


#1 Crush

by Trigger Finger (NatashaCole)



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Fluff, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Smutt, Stalking, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2019-08-16 18:06:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 82,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16500191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatashaCole/pseuds/Trigger%20Finger
Summary: Reader has everything she could ever hope for. She has a role on Supernatural, regular gigs at conventions, great friends, a blossoming relationship with a co-star, and adoring fans. Life is good.Her perfect little world is threatened though when an obsessed fan begins to come out into the open. At first, it’s nothing she can’t handle; but eventually, she’s not so sure that she’s safe anymore. Not only are the people closest to her worried, the unwanted attention is causing a rift in her relationship and a strain on her job.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the darkest I’ve ever gone with a series. I was inspired by Ruthie’s performance of the song from Vegas SNS and I immediately thought of this idea just because I’m weird like that. It’s kinda twisted, and super angsty. If stalker stuff creeps you out, probably avoid this series.

“Robbie, snap my picture for me,” you said as you handed Rob your phone.

He chuckled as he took it, giving you a minute to pose before taking a couple of pictures.

“A little excited about your campaign?” He asked as he handed the phone back to you.

You quickly scrolled through the photos, choosing the best one to post to your social media accounts.

“Hey, it’s my first one,” you replied. “Of course I’m excited.”

“It’s a good one. The fans are excited about it too.”

“Really?” You asked as you looked up at him.

“Yeah, everyone loves you. We’re very fortunate to have you as part of the family now.”

“You’re sweet.”

“That’s me,” he smiled. “Always the sweet one.”

“I hope you still plan on being sweet even though I’m about to force you to wear one of my shirts,” you said as you dug through your bag.

“You got a shirt for me?”

“I got a shirt for everyone,” you replied.

When you found what you thought was his size, you tossed him the shirt. He laughed and set it aside before quickly removing the shirt that he was already wearing.

Your breath caught as you watched him. You knew you should avert your eyes, but you were unable to as you watched him reach for the new shirt and slip it on.

That had been unexpected. Not to mention awkward as you stood there in shock as you got a quick show. You quickly tried to recover from seeing him almost naked, hoping that he hadn’t noticed your reaction. You were sure you were blushing now, and you really didn’t want to let him in on the fact that you had a crush on him.

“What?” He asked with a laugh.

“N-nothing,” you stuttered in return. “I just didn’t know I was going to get a show.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe I should’ve stripped down somewhere more private.”

“It’s okay. Just surprised me. I didn’t know you were so comfortable with yourself these days.”

“I’m normally not,” he smiled. “But, I’ve been working hard at toning up. I’m pretty proud of myself and how I look.”

“You should be,” you breathed out before you could stop yourself.

“Like what you see?” He asked playfully as he posed for you.

“Yeah, you look good Robbie. Don’t let it go to your head though.”

“Here,” he said as he handed you his phone this time. “Get my good side.”

You laughed as you pointed the camera at him, shaking your head as he gave you a few silly poses. You snapped a few pictures and gave him his phone back and he immediately went through them before picking his favorite to post to social media.

“There,” he said as he pocketed his phone. “You’ve been supported by God.”

“Thanks… God.”

You stared at him, feeling sort of lost in the moment. Seeing him in this way, your attraction to him was only growing. You also couldn’t help but to feel as if he might be doing all of this on purpose. Before you could think of much else, you were broken from your thoughts by a voice from behind you.

“What are you two lovebirds up to?”

You turned to see Rich as he entered the room. He always had a way of showing up at the most inopportune times, and of course he always managed to pull you from your thoughts of Rob when he did so.

“Hey, Rich,” you mumbled, not even phased by him calling you and Rob lovebirds. He did this often. In fact, almost everyone on the circuit did. You weren’t sure if it was because you were too obvious in your crush on Rob, or if they all just thought the two of you should be together; but they always teased you like this. You only felt okay about it because Rob also seemed unfazed by it all at this point.

“We’re trying on Y/N’s campaign shirts,” Rob explained. You smiled at how proud he seemed to be of you as he pushed his chest out to show off your shirt. Also, you sort of found it endearing the way he hadn’t even corrected Rich by saying that you two were definitely not lovebirds.

“Nice shirt,” Rich said. “Do I get one?”

“Do you?!” You exclaimed at you dug through the bag again to retrieve one for him.

* * *

Throughout the day, you had handed off a shirt to almost everyone. Each of your friends at least acted excited as they put on the shirt and took pictures of each other to post. You assumed it was just what they did for their friends. Regardless of whether or not they were just acting excited to be supportive, it still warmed your heart to have friends like them.

You moved through your day; getting through panels and photo ops and autographs. Honestly, you were just thrilled to be here. You had only done a few cons so far, but you truly did enjoy them. Not only did you get to meet fans who were genuinely happy to see you, but you also got to be with these co-workers that had quickly become your best friends.

You didn’t have many people in your life outside of work. You were an only child whose family lived far away from L.A. Even when you moved to the city to focus solely on your career, you never did make friends easily. Generally, you found that many of the actors you worked with on past projects were not into making friends with you.

Being here with these people constantly, you had easily slipped into their little family and found your own place there. They were the most honest and loving people you had ever met in your life, and you were thrilled to be a part of it.

Rob though, he had been the one that you connected with the most. You weren’t sure what it was exactly, but you had felt immediately safe the moment you met him. He was the first to greet you at your first con, and he remained your closest friend. Despite the age difference, the two of you hit it off. You quickly found that you had similar senses of humor and interests. Sometimes, when your individual schedules gave some leeway, you’d hang out if you both happened to be in L.A. at the same time.

He’d invite you to shows; sometimes to see one of his bands play, or just to check out a band that you had never heard of together. Occasionally, you’d grab coffee together and chat for a bit. Even here at work, you loved being around him.

Throughout the past few months, your adoration of him had only grown. He’d text you often or call, mostly just to talk about nothing at all. You couldn’t be sure, but you almost felt as if this was becoming more than just a friendship between you.

He had been single for some time, and you had become recently single not long after you started doing the conventions. Not wanting to make a big deal out of a breakup that had been a mutual decision, you had gotten over it quickly and set your sights on someone who you had more in common with. The only thing was, you were never sure if Rob caught on to your flirting or if he even thought of you as anything more than just a convention friend.

Sometimes, you felt as if he was flirting with you in return, but you quickly realized that you weren’t very good at judging that at all since he was already a huge flirt with literally everyone around him. Most of the time, you could tell that the way he was with you was far different than how he was with even the people that he had known longer; but even you were never certain of what that really meant.

Still, neither of you had ever made a move to turn your friendship into anything more. You, being the more outgoing one, had considered doing just that many times. But, since you couldn’t really read him that well, you always decided not to risk it. You enjoyed his friendship, and didn’t want to lose it if he really wasn’t interested in you like that.

* * *

Later that afternoon, you were busy checking in on your campaign when Rich, Rob, and the rest of the band entered the green room. You drew your focus away from your phone as chatter among everyone else ensued. They were discussing the Saturday night concert, seemingly making final plans for everything.

“So, the lineup is pretty much set,” you heard Rob explain. “That is, unless I still can’t talk Y/N into singing tomorrow night.”

“I told you, I don’t sing,” you shouted from your spot on the couch.

“Lies. I’ve heard you sing,” he shouted in return.

“You listening in on her shower time?” Rich teased.

“Shut up,” Rob mumbled. “She’s always singing. In the green room, in the car…”

“It’s true, Y/N,” Rich agreed. “You never shut up.”

“I mean, I don’t sing on stage in front of people. Besides, I’m mostly messing around.”

“Well, you have an enjoyable voice,” Rich said. “Everyone would love to hear it.”

“Fine,” you groaned in return. “I’ll do it.”

“That was easy,” Rob said in shock.

Truthfully, you had been wanting to finally sing at SNS. Your friends had been encouraging you to do so for some time, and you had been building up the nerve to do it. You figured this weekend would be the perfect time to finally make your debut. And not because it was Rob’s birthday tomorrow and you had a crush on him or anything.

“Did you just call me easy?” You asked.

“Uh, no,” he said in return. “I just- thought you’d put up a fight when it came to finally singing at SNS.”

“I’m so tired of fighting,” you sighed dramatically. “You win, okay?”

“I love winning.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see if you still feel like a winner when you actually have to listen to me attempt to sing.”

“What are you talking about,” Billy chimed in. “You’re great. We always love when you sing.”

“Oh, you mean you enjoy listening to me butcher songs when I sing at the top of my lungs during breaks? You guys do know that I do all of that just to annoy you, right?”

“Whatever,” Rich began. “You have a great voice and you know it.”

“Well, perhaps you’re all tone deaf,” you laughed. “Rob is the only one who gets to have an opinion because he’s a legitimate singer.”

“Well, in my opinion, you’re really good, Y/N,” he said honestly.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Trust me, I wouldn’t continuously ask you to sing if I didn’t think you couldn’t do it.”

“Well, that’s just sweet. I hope I get an actual rehearsal so I don’t completely let you down.”

“Tomorrow is your lucky day then,” he said with a grin. “We’re rehearsing in the morning.”

“So, what are we singing then?” Billy cut in.

You giggled at how even he seemed to be excited about you finally caving.

You shrugged in response, playing it off as if you really hadn’t given it much thought. In reality, you had been thinking about it a lot lately. You also might have had given yourself about a weeks worth of car karaoke rehearsals in preparation for when you finally decided to perform.

“Since everyone seems to be on a 90s kick lately, let’s do #1 Crush.”

Billy raised raised a brow at you, looking intrigued by your choice.

“The stalker song?”

“Yeah, that one,” you laughed.

“I’ve been trying to talk someone into doing that song for so long,” Rob said softly.

“I know, and I’m sorry it ended up being me to volunteer.”

“I think you’d rock that song,” he said with a grin.

“It’s all for you,” you breathed out, attempting to playfully flirt so that it didn’t come across as actual flirting. “You are the birthday boy.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me…”

“Oh, if your birthday is that terrible, I guess I can take back my gift and give the spot to someone else.”

“No,” he said with a smile. “I want you to sing. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

You cocked your head at him, questioning him with a look. Again, you weren’t sure if he purposely worded it like that or if you had just taken it the wrong way.

“I mean, I’ve wanted you to be a part of SNS for a long time,” he quickly corrected himself. “You’re going to be amazing.”

You shook your head in response, feeling yourself blush now.

“You don’t know that. I might be terrible. In fact, I’ll most likely be terrible.”

“There’s no way that’s even possible,” he replied. “Everyone is going to love you even more than they already do. We’ll have to protect you from the fans when they realize they can’t get enough of you.”

Now you were really feeling as if he had turned the flirting up a notch, and you eyed him suspiciously. Rob was always nice to you. He was always a bit flirty. That’s just who he was. You wondered if it could really be something more between the two of you given the way he had been acting so far this weekend.

You almost considered asking him out to dinner or something right then, mostly because you were so tired of the back and forth between the two of you lately. You figured it might be best to just get it out of the way. The worst that could happen would be that he denied you and then you would know for sure that he wasn’t interested. Actually, that would be really bad. You didn’t know if you could handle him shooting you down. At the same time, you wanted to know for sure.

You remembered that everyone else was here in the room too. Maybe you would make a move eventually, but now wasn’t the time. Besides, you had a lot to do this weekend, and now you had the anxiety of knowing you would be singing at SNS to worry about.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is nervous about her SNS debut. It doesn’t help her anxiety when a close friend starts to make things weird between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used '#1 Crush' by Garbage in this chapter. I loved the way Ruthie performed it at SNS, so this whole fic was sort of inspired by that.

The following morning, you had joined some of your friends in the green room for breakfast. You felt more than ready for the day, having been able to catch up on sleep. It had been some time since you had felt so rested; and you knew it was because you chose to skip out on karaoke and drinks with everyone the night before.

Many of them never failed to give you shit for disappearing at the end of the first day of con so that you could slip off to your room early. But you had learned quickly that if you wanted to survive the weekends, especially Saturday nights, you had to give up your need to socialize at least one night of the weekend.

You were sipping on your coffee, grinning as you listened to Kim and Briana groan about how tired they were. Matt and Rich also seemed a bit sluggish; but you knew that they all just needed a lot of caffeine and a moment to wake up fully. No one around here ever made it noticeable that they were ever tired or in need of a break.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

You pulled your focus away from your friends at the table so that you could turn toward the man that you knew had just entered the room. You’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“You’re here!” You exclaimed as you stood up to greet Adam.

“I am!”

You immediately threw your arms around him, hugging him tightly as you laughed.

“I’m so glad you’re at this one,” you began as you pulled away from him. “I was beginning to think we’d never see each other again.”

“Well, you know, every once in a while it works out.”

You really were thrilled to see him. While you hadn’t had many opportunities to hang out with him, you had come to enjoy his company. Rob may the one person at the conventions that you absolutely adored and had much in common with; but Adam was quickly becoming one of your closest friends.

You weren’t sure what it was about him, but the two of you always had fun when he actually had a chance to attend cons.

“How are you?” You asked, now trying to make small talk as he joined the rest of you at the table.

“I’m doing well. Just finished up a project that was keeping me away from all of this. Luckily, it wrapped up just in time. When they asked if I could make this one, I jumped at it.”

“That’s exciting.”

“It is. I’m just glad I’m able to be here though.”

“Ah, yes,” you sighed. “The convention life… so glamorous and not exhausting at all.”

“You love it though.”

“You know what? I really do.”

“Also, I’m pretty excited that I managed to make it to THE convention that a certain someone chose to make her debut at.”

He gave you a sly grin, reminding you now of what you had agreed to yesterday. Suddenly, your stomach twisted into knots when you recalled.

“Please, don’t remind me that I’m doing this,” you replied. “I wonder if it’s too late to back out.”

“You can’t back out. Why would you deprive the world of that talent?”

“It’s hardly talent,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“You underestimate yourself,” he replied.

“Well, at least I always have you to incessantly remind me that I am perfect at everything I do. It doesn’t affect my ego at all.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“So,” you began, now trying to change the subject so that you wouldn’t be paralyzed by fear over the reminders that you were singing tonight. “What’s new with you. I haven’t talked to you in a while. How are things?”

“I’ve been good. Busy, but good. And you?”

“Same,” you laughed. “Always busy.”

“Such is the life,” he mused.

“What are you doing here so early anyway?” You asked.

It was expected for the all-dayers to be here literally all day starting first thing in the morning; but those like Adam, who only had a few things scheduled later in the day, were the lucky ones who got to sleep in.

It was a bit unusual to see him in the green room this early, especially since registration hadn’t even started. The only reason you were here now was because you had to rehearse for the show.

“I came to see you,” he grinned.

“I’m hardly worth losing out on sleep over.”

“There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about…” Adam said suddenly. “I figured if I caught you early enough, I could just get it out of the way.”

He was still watching you; this time, biting his lip as if he meant to stop himself from what he wanted to say. He still seemed nervous, which was an odd thing from him considering that he was never nervous around you.

“Sure, what’s up?”

Now, he averted his gaze from you to glance around the room. You followed his cue, noting that others had trickled in while the two of you had been talking. You spotted Misha and the band now, and most importantly, Rob. Your nerves went on high alert as you saw him; his eyes almost immediately meeting yours. He gave you a warm smile, and you smiled back. That was the moment you remembered that you had hyped yourself for today being the day that you finally said something to him about your crush on him.

Normally, you were anything but shy, but the thought of possibly being shut down by Rob scared you.

“You know, maybe it can wait,” Adam said.

You looked back to him, realizing that you had lost yourself in thought for a moment.

“No, we can talk now. I have time. Besides, you got up extra early to find me.”

“I’d rather wait until we have a moment together. Preferably without a room full of people to listen.”

“Oh, okay,” you said in confusion. “Is it serious?”

You didn’t understand what Adam would want to talk about that was so secret he couldn’t say it to you now.

“Not serious,” he promised. “Just- I’d like for us to be able to talk a bit more privately.”

You suddenly felt as if the usually easy conversation between the two of you was getting awkward. You didn’t know why, but he was now fidgety and he seemed uneasy as the two of you caught up. You hated being in uncomfortable situations with people, especially people that you knew well. But, he was definitely making it weird and you couldn’t handle that.

It was in your nature to be outgoing and friendly. You loved to talk and hang out with people; so the moment someone made things weird, you only wanted to remove yourself from that situation.

You looked up and searched for Rob again. When you found him, he began to wave you over to him and you took it as your cue to join him. You had almost forgotten about rehearsals this morning.

“Oh look,” you began as you stood up, relieved to finally have an out now that things with Adam were weird. “I gotta go rehearse.”

“Y/N!”

You heard Rob call out to you just then. You glanced back to him and he was waving you in his direction; he and the guys already heading to the exit.

“I gotta go,” you said nervously.

“You’re going to be great,” Adam insisted.

“Well, here’s hoping,” you chuckled. “Maybe when the band hears me in rehearsal, they’ll just drop me from the set list. It’ll save everyone the embarrassment.”

“Stop it. Everyone knows you can sing. Well, everyone but you apparently.”

“Thanks. Hey, I’ll find you later. We can talk.”

“Alright. See you around Y/N.”

* * *

After a surprisingly decent rehearsal, you were ready for the rest of the day. You felt a little kick in your step after the guys, especially Rob, had praised you during your practice run. Now, your nervousness for the concert tonight had turned into excitement.

Your Saturday had been a lot busier than even you were used to. You had additional photo ops and autographs, you had your solo panel and had also joined some of the other ladies on a group panel. By the time you ran into Adam again, you had nearly forgotten that he had wanted to talk to you about something today.

You were on your way out of the green room, following your handler as she ushered you off for your meet and greet, when he did catch you.

“You know, you’re a very difficult woman to find,” he said teasingly.

“Sorry, they like to keep me busy apparently.”

“Well, it’s warranted. Everyone loves you.”

“Maybe I’ll catch you after this?” You asked.

“I’m done for the day,” he explained. “Heading out to dinner. I know you’ve probably got things to do before the concert.”

“Yeah, I’m hanging out with everyone before. The pre-concert dinner.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “I will definitely see you tonight then.”

“You’re coming, right?”

“I will be there. I wouldn’t miss you sing.”

“Alright,” you smiled in return.

You noted the way your handler looked annoyed as you talked to Adam. Obviously she was in a rush to get you to where you needed to be, so you decided not to cause her any more anxiety over your lateness.

“I’ll see you later then.”

* * *

##  **Later at SNS…**

You waited backstage for your turn, listening as the band wrapped up “Rock Song” and growing more and more nervous as you realized you were up next.

Everyone else had already done their parts, and you had sat backstage, in awe as usual by the amount of talent that everyone had. You didn’t compare. But, Rob had spent a lot of time trying to talk you into singing and he seemed excited that you had finally agreed to it. Even during rehearsals, he encouraged you and praised you. You figured it was just him being a good friend, because you really didn’t think you deserved the praise.

It was his birthday after all, so of course you had given in to his request. You hoped that your sudden willingness to sing hadn’t given you away too much. If nothing else, you really did want to impress him tonight.

“You’ll be great,” Kim said suddenly.

“Thanks, I’m just a little nervous.”

“First time singing in front of an audience… I’d be nervous too.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“I mean, I’ve done it a bunch of times, and I still get nervous.”

“Still not helping.”

“You’ll kill it,” she smiled.

She put an arm around your shoulders, giving you a quick squeeze to comfort you when you heard Rob’s voice boom through the speakers. You instantly became more nervous as you realized he was talking about you.

“We’re going to invite someone new to SNS to the stage,” he began.

He waited for the audience to quiet down before he finally introduced you.

“Please, give a warm welcome to Y/N.”

You listened as the crowd cheered again, the sounds muffled as you anxiously made your way on stage. You walked to your microphone and looked at Rob.

You couldn’t believe how nervous you were. You. The outgoing one who had no problem making an idiot of herself on stage during panels. But, this was different. Now, the audience would actually hear you sing and you cringed as you remembered that you really weren’t that good and now you were subjecting fans to the torture.

Rob caught you looking at him pleadingly and he quickly moved toward you, his face inches from yours as he offered you a smile. He took your hand in his in an attempt to calm you.

“Hey,” He said, squeezing your hand. “Just like we rehearsed. You were amazing. You got this.”

He let go of you and moved back to his spot as the band went into playing the music.

Right off the bat, you missed your cue to start singing. You glanced out at the audience and closed your eyes, squeezing them shut tight as the band seamlessly moved back into the intro, giving you a chance to try again.

Eyes still closed, you hit your mark this time. For some reason, it was easier to not see what was going on around you. You imagined you were just singing in the green room, as you often did… no one but your friends present.

_I would die for you_

_I would die for you_

_I’ve been dying just to feel you by my side_

_To know that you’re mine_

_I will cry for you_

_I will cry for you_

_I will wash away your pain with all my tears_

_And drown your fear_

You could hear Rob backing you up during the pause in the lyrics, so you wanted to look at him. When you finally did open your eyes though, you instantly regretted it.

You still sang, trying to hold back your nerves, but you couldn’t stop shaking now that you were fully aware of everyone watching you. Your voice wavered as the song continued and you internally panicked, thinking that you were definitely fucking this up.

_I will pray for you_

_I will pray for you_

_I will sell my soul for something pure and true_

_Someone like you_

_See your face every place that I walk in_

_Hear your voice every time that I’m talking_

_You will believe in me_

_And I will never be ignored_

That was when you glanced toward Rob. He had insisted that you’d be great and that he wouldn’t let you fail, but you knew that you were definitely failing right now. His eyes found yours instantly, reading the panic in your expression. He kept playing, doing backup vocals at first, still holding your gaze.

You froze then, forgetting the next verse. Your eyes widened, looking to him for help. Before there was a noticeable pause in the song, he picked up on the song, taking over the verse confidently.

_I will burn for you_

_Feel pain for you_

_I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart_

_And tear it apart_

Now, you had a moment to steady yourself. You took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. That was when he winked at you, giving you a smile and nodding; letting you know that you had this.

For some reason, this was comforting. Just knowing that he was there, ready to back you up, let you know that you most certainly would not fail up here. You began to sing again, this time a bit more confidently.

_I will lie for you_

_Beg and steal for you_

_I will crawl on hands and knees until you see_

_You’re just like me_

Only now were you finally feeding off the energy of Rob, the band, and the audience. You could hear them cheering you on, so your nerves lessened almost instantly. The shakiness of your voice all but dissipated as you reached for the microphone, knowing that you had to give it your all for the last part of the song. You felt yourself finally begin to sway to the music and you smiled over at Rob now that you realized you were okay.

No one was booing you and everyone seemed to be actually enjoying your performance. Remembering that you had totally bombed on the beginning, you focused solely on making up for it as you finished the song.

_Violate all the love that I’m missing_

_Throw away all the pain that I’m living_

_You will believe in me_

_And I could never be ignored_

_I would die for you_

_I would kill for you_

_I would steal for you_

_I’d do time for you_

_I would wait for you_

_I’d make room for you_

_I’d sail ships for you_

_To be close to you_

_To be part of you_

_‘Cause I believe in you_

_I believe in you_

_I would die for you_

The second the music ended, you stood there, heart racing from the high that you were now feeling. The audience cheered for you, louder than they had ever cheered for you before. You turned to smile at Rob and he instantly went to you, pulling you in for a tight embrace.

“I told you that you could do it,” he said against your ear. “You were amazing.”

You couldn’t even reply, you were breathless as you let the excitement of having just done something that terrified you course through you. You squeezed him tight and you felt him place a soft kiss to your cheek. 

* * *

The show went on; and just before the final song, you and the others surprised Rob on stage with a birthday cake and a stirring rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ that left the man blushing and grinning ear to ear.

You all remained on stage and helped them wrap up the night with ‘Let Love Rule’. You watched Rob throughout the song as he excitedly bounded around the stage, nothing but a look of pure joy on his face.

That smile, those blue eyes each time his gaze found you… it was enough to make you think that there really was something there between you.

You had it in your mind that tonight had to be the night when you finally said something to him.

Back in the green room, you waited with everyone else as the band was off doing whatever it was that they did after a show. While you should have been tired given the fact that it was well after midnight and you had had a busy day, you were running on pure adrenaline from performing.

You knew that someone had to have something planned for the rest of the night, especially considering that it was Rob’s birthday.

You glanced up as the guys finally entered the room and you grinned at Rob as he approached you. Before you could say anything, he was hugging you again; this time rubbing small circles against your back as he lingered for a while.

“Thanks for saving my ass out there,” you said as he pulled away after a moment.

“Are you kidding?” He replied. “You were amazing.”

“I panicked.”

“But then you rocked it. You were perfect.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You could have, but I was happy to help you through it anyway.”

“Thank you,” you smiled. “Really, that felt really good. At the end anyway.”

“It was pretty amazing watching you go from a nervous wreck to… sexy as hell when you finished the song.”

“What?” You asked in surprise.

“I- I mean,” he began to stutter, turning red as he caught on to what he had said. “I just mean- you were really great. Seriously, by the last half of the song, you killed it.”

“Thank you?” You replied, not really sure what else to say to the fact that he had definitely called you sexy.

Almost as if it had been planned, the rest of the guys cut right in. First, they congratulated you, echoing most of Rob’s sentiments on your performance; and then they pulled Rob away. You stood there alone for a minute, still trying to process what he had said to you. Perhaps you had heard him wrong, or maybe you just heard what you wanted to hear from him. Even if he had said what you thought he said, surely he hadn’t meant it.

You had definitely gotten really into the song and the vibes from the people watching, so you knew you had started to dance a little on stage, probably too suggestively. Perhaps that was what he was talking about.

You wandered off a bit as everyone else talked excitedly among themselves, everyone coming down from the excitement of the show. You decided to take a moment to check notifications on your campaign post. In all honesty, you were becoming quite obsessed with what people were saying about it, and you really just needed a distraction right now.

There were always way too many notifications to sort through, especially when you shared a picture, so you made a habit out of stopping to read and respond to a few that caught your eye.

You replied to a couple of funny comments, liked a bunch of responses, and took some time to respond to your friends comments.

You scrolled mindlessly until you came across another comment that caught your eye. You weren’t sure why it was so noticeable, but you stopped to read it anyway.

_‘If I had all the money in the world, I would spend it all on you. I do anything to support you. I hope you see me.’_

You scrunched up your face, sort of weirded out by the strange response. It probably had a lot to do with the number of heart emojis used, but you felt compelled to at least respond.

_‘Anything you do; regardless of whether it’s buying a shirt or even just sharing the post, it all helps. Thank you!’_

You made sure to leave a heart emoji for good measure.

Just as you slipped your phone into your pocket, you glanced around to see what everyone else was up to. If you knew them, and you did, there would definitely be a party happening tonight.

You lived for the Saturday night after parties that Briana hosted. It was probably just your outgoing nature that made you love them so much, but you always wanted to spend as much time with your friends as you could.

“Hey, rockstar.”

You turned around toward the direction of the voice speaking to you, grinning as you saw Rob approaching you.

“Excuse me, but you’re the only rockstar that I see here.”

“You flatter me,” he chuckled. “You coming to SNAP?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“I knew you wouldn’t.”

“What can I say? I love a good party.”

“Yeah,” he mused. “I’m not sure how I manage to keep up with you.”

“Are you saying I party too much?”

“Not at all,” he replied. “You know I love parties as well. I’m just tired tonight.”

“Well, you could just go to bed. Parties aren’t a requirement.”

“I can’t do that,” he laughed. “It’s my birthday.”

“Ah, yes. A very rare SNAP birthday party. Still, if you’re that tired, we could always celebrate another time.”

“I’d miss out on something.”

“The FOMO is real,” you sighed.

“It’s definitely real,” he laughed. “Besides, tonight was your first show, we gotta celebrate.”

“The only thing we’re celebrating is the fact that you’ve just turned…” you paused, making a face as you pretended to count the years on your fingers.

“Forty-eight,” Rob reminded you as he cringed.

“Hopefully you can still keep up,” you said as you started to walk away from him.

Everyone else was trickling out of the room, and you wanted to keep up as you all made your way back to Briana’s room.

“Are you calling me old?”

“I’m not calling you old,” you chuckled. “You’re the perfect age.”

You gave him a wink and turned from him, starting to jog after the rest of the group.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader appears to have Rob and Adam vying for her attention. She knows what she wants, and now she’s just trying to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really love writing Rob and Adam fighting for Reader’s attention, okay?!

Later that night, you were sat on the couch in Briana’s room already feeling a bit tipsy from the drinks you had already indulged in. You listened intently to Briana and Kim as they spoke wildly about some experience that they had with a fan during photo ops earlier that day.

You couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity of the story. Surely they were elaborating on what really happened; after all, your experiences this far in the fandom had been pleasant and surprisingly mellow. 

“That did not happen,” you laughed.

“Of course it did,” Kim replied. “I would never lie.”

“I have never had an experience like that with a fan.”

“Just you wait,” Briana cut in. “You’re fresh meat. You’ll get yourself a number one fan before you know it.”

“Hopefully not that crazy.”

“It’s not so crazy. I’ve had worse.”

“Well, luckily people don’t have that much of an interest in me. So far, I’ve gotten fan art and that’s about it.”

“You haven’t found the fan fiction yet?” Briana asked.

“The what?”

“Oh girl, you really are so innocent,” she laughed in return.

“I don’t even want to know.”

“Hold on to that innocence while you can.”

“Yeah, I’m going to get another drink.”

You shook your head at her as you stood up from your spot, mostly wanting to get away from the conversation. You had pleasant thoughts of the fandom in your mind, and you certainly did not want those thoughts to be replaced by their wild stories of their own experiences.

You were standing at the small makeshift bar, pouring yourself a drink when Adam approached you. He had been unable to catch you all day long, but now was the perfect opportunity and he knew it.

Truthfully, you had sort of purposely avoided him. After the way he made things so weird between you earlier, you sort of didn’t want to know what he could possibly want to talk to you about.

You didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but you also weren’t stupid. All of your instincts were telling you that he was interested in you and that he had been for some time. You sort of thought he might be working up the nerve to ask you out this weekend. Normally, that wouldn’t be such a big deal to you. He was attractive and nice and you got along well. In any other situation, you could easily see yourself dating someone like him.

But, the only thing that left you wanting to avoid him and the possibility that he was going to make a move on you was the fact that you had it in your mind that you were going to see if there was something there between you and Rob. You thought that you had done well with keeping Adam in the friend zone, but you really had no clue what he was up to now. You mostly wanted to avoid hurting his feelings if he was planning to make a move.

“You were great tonight,” he said as he raised his drink to you.

You met him as his offer and clinked your glass with his, allowing him to congratulate you.

“Thank you. I like to think it was pretty damn good at the end.”

“It was all good.”

“I’m pretty sure we all heard me fuck up at the beginning.”

“It was adorable,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” you said again. “Really, everyone has been way too nice about that performance, but I’ll take it.”

“You know, you really don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“I’ll work on that,” you laughed.

“Please do,” he smiled in return. “I love seeing you confident.”

“Well, I have really great friends who are always confident enough in me that I don’t have to work so hard.”

“I was hoping we could still talk,” he began. “I’ve been trying to catch you all day, but you never have time for me.”

“Oh, well I’m guess I’m free right now,” you mumbled in return.

Adam seemed to ready himself for what he wanted to say and you couldn’t help but giggle over how nervous he looked all of the sudden. You were sure that you knew what this was and you began to play in your mind what you would say in response. It wasn’t that you didn’t like him or that you didn’t find him attractive; you were just too hung up on Rob for it to be fair to allow him to possibly ask you out.

“Y/N, I’ve been thinking-”

He was cut off as Rich unexpectedly pushed his way in between the two of you. He had his back to you, bumping you out of the way as he got Adam’s attention.

“Buddy!” Rich exclaimed a bit too excitedly, playfully slapping Adam on the shoulder. “Misha was just telling us about that thing that happened at your first convention. We’d love to hear your side of it.”

“What thing?” He replied.

“The story,” Rich laughed. “The one with the broom and the chair… Misha didn’t remember details, so I figured I’d come straight to the source.”

“Oh, that was just a prank in the green room. I’ve told that story a bunch of times.”

“Well, I’d love to hear it again,” Rich continued. “Robbie and I have been jotting down stories that happen during conventions for our show. I’d feel better getting the details from you. Do you have time now?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I have a minute,” Adam replied.

You caught sight of him glancing over Rich’s shoulder to look at you. You gave him a shrug as if to say “what can ya do?” and he frowned when he realized he had been interrupted again.

“Great, come on over,” Rich said pointing to a small group of people huddled on one side of the room.

You watched Rich walk away and looked back at Adam.

”I’ll be right back,” he said, looking annoyed now.

You looked over at Rich who was waiting for Adam. It was a weird thing for him to be this insistent about talking to anyone, especially concerning an apparent prank. Honestly, a part of you felt that Rich was just purposely trying to keep him away from you. You really didn’t mind. You had a feeling about what Adam wanted, and you really didn’t want that conversation to happen.

You eased up as Adam walked away, now trying to come up with ideas on how to avoid him from here on out. You knew he could easily pull you away from any conversation with anyone here and no one would think anything of it.

You decided that it would be best to call it a night; if only to avoid the conversation that you didn’t want to have. You felt like a jerk for choosing to give up the rest of the party just so that you didn’t have to hurt Adam’s feelings, but you really weren’t in the mood to deal with this.

You quickly downed the remainder of your drink and made your move to leave before Rich lost Adam’s attention.

Just as you were close to the exit, you felt a hand grasp gently onto your arm to stop you. You turned, relieved to see Rob there.

“Hey,” he greeted you.

You smiled back at him, feeling yourself blush. This had been an ongoing thing. You and Rob seemed to be innocently flirting with each other constantly. Every time you felt the need to maybe push it a little bit, he always backed off. The moment that you realized you made him uncomfortable, you’d back off and then he’d be right back to flirting with you.

“Hey,” you replied, trying to give him a flirty smile since you really wanted to know if he was interested.

“I’ve been trying to get you alone all night,” he began. “Every time I want to talk to you, someone else is stealing your attention.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Adam doesn’t give anyone else a chance to speak to you. He’s being selfish really.”

“Well, no one else has my attention right now,” you replied. “I’m all yours.”

He swallowed hard at your words, looking as adorable as ever when he was anxious.

“You sure you have time for me?” He asked.

“I always have time for you. What’s up?”

“Look,” he began, now getting tense as he willed himself to say what he wanted to say. “ I was thinking that you and I could possibly stop playing this game.”

“What game?”

You tried to sound surprised, but you definitely knew what he meant.

“The one where we flirt with each other and then back down just to come back for more.”

You smiled again, feeling yourself blush harder. While you had a feeling that he had always flirted with you, you never imagined that he’d bring it up. Now, you had confirmation that you were both looking at this relationship the same way.

“I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed that.”

You felt your heart race as he looked at you. Yes, you had developed a crush on him throughout your short stint at these conventions, but you hardly thought anything would ever come of it. You had been sure that he flirted with you in return many times, but you also talked yourself down from thinking that he was at all interested. Now that he was basically stating outright that the two of you flirted with each other, you felt a little more brave in admitting that you were definitely into him.

“We should probably just stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m into you,” he said simply.

His tenseness appeared to dissipate as soon as he said it. He straightened up, looking you right in the eyes as he spoke confidently to you now.

“You’re into me?” You asked. You felt the butterflies again, this time not because you were nervous, but because you were excited. You had spent a lot of time pining over him, and he had been the one to say something first.

“Yeah, I have been for a long time. Tonight just made me realize that I need to do something about it.”

“Oh?” You couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Obviously both of you had kept this from each other for much longer than you’d care to admit.

“Yeah, you were so hot up on stage. I realized that if I didn’t make my move finally, someone else would.”

He nodded in the direction of Adam, who was still chatting with Rich. You smiled to yourself, realizing that he had obviously caught on to the strange flirtation between the two of you that had been going on lately.

“Ooh,” you said as you grinned even more. “Do you think he likes me? He’s cute.”

Although you knew the answer to that, you had to tease Rob a bit. Almost instantly, that confidence that he had built up disappeared as he ran his hand against the back of his neck and stared at the ground.

“See, now I’m regretting even saying anything.”

“I’m joking,” you said as you grabbed his arm to comfort him. “I mean, he is cute… but I’m just teasing you.”

“Please don’t. It took a lot of courage to say something to you finally.”

“You really decided to tell me now that you were into me just because you saw him flirting?”

“Yup,” he replied. “That’s definitely why.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Maybe a little.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not interested in Adam… even if he was really hitting on me.”

“He was,” he said seriously. “That guy has had a thing for you for a long time.”

“Wow, I had no idea that I had all of these options lined up,” you chuckled. “What’s a girl to do?”

“To be fair, I did say something first,” Rob pointed out.

“See, now I can’t help but wonder if you had something to do with Rich pulling him away just now…” you trailed off as you stared at Adam thoughtfully. “He was about to tell me something, and… I dunno… It seems weird that this was the moment Rich picked.”

Rob chuckled softly, looking guilty for a moment as you called him out.

“I- I might have had something to do with that…”

“You don’t play fair, do you?”

“He was going to ask you out,” Rob admitted. “Rich heard him talking about it to someone earlier and he let me know. Said I should make my move before he did.”

“Sneaky,” you said with a laugh. “Seriously though, are you and Adam vying for my attention? I feel like I’m in a bad rom-com.”

“No, we’re not fighting over you,” he laughed. “I just- I like you. I have liked you. I was just too afraid to say anything because… well, look at you.”

“You flatter me. Anyway, thanks for telling me you like me, I guess. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with all of that…”

“I just wanted to tell you before he did. Just so you know.”

“Well, you didn’t have to distract the man. I would have probably turned him down. I think of him as a friend only.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Besides, I’ve had my eye on someone else.”

“Oh, really? Who?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“So I did read all of that right.”

“You did.”

“Good.”

“What exactly are you trying to accomplish by telling me that you’re… into me?”

By now, you were slightly annoyed that he had said something, but had still failed at actually asking you out.

“I’m hoping that I can talk you into having dinner with me.”

“Are you finally asking me on a date?”

“Yeah, I am,” he said. “Unless you’re not interested. In that case, pretend this conversation never happened.”

You laughed, taking in how cute he was when he was trying to act confident.

“You know, for someone who trying to stop Adam from asking me out, it sure took you a really long time to get there.”

“Maybe I should have led with that,” he grinned.

“You did fine,” you said softly. “And, as for going on a date, I would really like that.”

“Really? You’d go out with me?”

“Maybe I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”

“Maybe I should’ve asked a long time ago then.”

“Well, now is good.”

“Great,” he said with a smile. “We’ll go on a date then. I promise not to take my shirt off.”

You felt your face heat up again, knowing that your blush was fully noticeable as you recalled having seen him shirtless earlier. He was definitely taunting you over your reaction to the incident the other day. You had hoped that he hadn’t noticed at the time, but he obviously had noticed.

“Unless you want me to,” he teased.

“Maybe we can date a little bit before clothes come off,” you replied. “Besides, you haven’t even seen me nearly naked. Yet.”

This time, Rob blushed wildly. You were proud of your newfound bravery in ramping up your flirting a notch, and you secretly congratulated yourself over how you were able to now turn him into the nervous mess.

“I’m not opposed,” he responded after he collected himself.

You let out a laugh, reaching out to him to rest your hand on his arm. You gripped onto him, noting that he most definitely was toned and now you were nervous again.

“We’ll see if you can handle me fully clothed first,” you replied.

You and Rob spent the rest of the night together mostly talking and moving closer to each other. You hadn’t been on an official date yet, but already you saw yourself as being able to get serious with him. The thought of having him as your boyfriend someday excited you. Out of everyone else here, you clicked with him the most. You never ran out of things to talk about, he made you laugh, he was cute, and he had a way of making you feel like the only person in the room.

As the two of you drank together and lost yourselves in conversation, you had all but forgotten about the weirdness with Adam.

Your goal for the night was to tell Rob that you were into him, and thankfully; he had made the first move.

When Rob was pulled away from you by the guys, you rejoined the girls; realizing that you had basically neglected everyone ever since your conversation with Rob. You were also still trying to avoid Adam, so it was easier to make it visible to everyone in the room that you and Rob wanted to only spend time with each other for a while. You hoped that your closeness with him tonight was enough to make Adam see that you were interested in one man, and that man was not him.

You sat down to join the girls in the middle of one of Briana’s crazy stories. Expecting her to just continue, you pretended to be intrigued by what she was saying.

Unfortunately for you, she stopped in the middle of her story to single you out.

“You and Rob are getting awfully cozy,” she teased.

“Stop it,” you blushed. “I like him.”

“Well, obviously. You know he’s really into you as well?”

“I know,” you grinned. “He already told me.”

“Really? He finally said something?”

“Yes,” you said matter-of-factually, “He asked me out.”

“Oh my god,” Briana cried out dramatically. “It’s finally happened! Now we don’t have to sit back and watch you two drool over each other anymore.”

“No,” Kim added. “We just might have to watch them drool ON each other from now on.”

“Ew,” you laughed as you scrunched up your nose. “There will be no drooling.”

“So…” Kim cut in, smiling ear to ear, “are you two gonna take off together tonight? I need to know since my room is right next to yours. Do I need earplugs?”

“Oh come on,” Briana added. “You know damn well you’d be listening.”

“Stop! I am not going to sleep with him! Not tonight anyway, we haven’t even had a first date.”

“You want to though,” Kim said, wiggling her eyebrows at you teasingly.

“You don’t know what I want. Maybe I want to just take it slow with him. I’m excited to go out with him. Besides, he’s a gentleman, regardless of how much he flirts.”

“He may be a gentleman, but he’s definitely dirty,” she replied. “He’d fuck you so hard tonight if you let him.”

“Look,” you began as you tried to hold back on more blushing. “I like him. A lot. It’s different with him. I don’t want to jump into bed with him too soon. I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but maybe I want to date him a little first. See if there’s something more serious there.”

“Fine,” Kim sighed. “Be like that.”

* * *

When the party had died down, Rob offered to walk you back to your room. You accepted, grateful to have somewhat of a quiet moment with him now.

You stopped at your door and waited for him.

“Would it be too forward of me to kiss you right now?” He asked finally.

“Are you asking if you can kiss me? I need clarification.”

“I am, but I also know we haven’t officially gone out yet, so I don’t wanna press my luck.”

“Well, it is your birthday,” you said softly as you reached up to wrap your arms around him.

He grinned stupidly as you pulled him closer to you. Maybe this was moving too quickly, but you desperately wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him. You had thought about it for so long, and this was your chance. He wanted you as much as you wanted him.

He smiled before leaning into you. You felt his breath, hot against your lips and you stopped breathing as you waited.

“Wait,” he said softly. “I have to ask… since we know that I like you and you’ve obviously liked me for some time… you weren’t singing the stalker song to me, were you?”

“What?”

“I mean, that was hot… the way you sounded when you sang, the way you moved… But, I really don’t need a stalker in my life.”

You gave him a playful slap to his chest, laughing as he grinned at you.

“I hardly have to stalk you.”

“You’re right. I’m making myself too available.”

“You’re such a jerk.”

“But you kinda like it,” he said as he shot you a wink.

“Are you going to kiss me or not?”

You were now impatient. You had spent a long time waiting for this moment to happen with him, and he was certainly playing.

“I am,” he said as he finally moved in again.

Before you could speak again, his lips were pressing against yours. You sighed against his mouth, moving your arms up to wrap around his neck as he gripped onto your waist.

Everything felt so effortless with him. Yes, there had been the initial nervousness over finally admitting that you liked him, and yes, the nervousness stayed even now. But, you loved that you were both able to still joke and flirt the way you always had. The only difference now is that you were finally allowed to take things a little bit further.

You always imagined what it would be like to have him kiss you, and now you knew. You also knew that you never wanted him to stop. This was just as perfect as you always thought it would be. You were just as comfortable with him like this as you had been when you were strictly friends.

“Goodnight,” you said when the kiss ended some time later.

“It is, isn’t it?” He smiled.

You leaned in to kiss him again, still not used to how good it felt to have his lips on yours.

He wrapped his arms around you again, pulling you close to him as the two of you lost yourselves in another kiss.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he murmured.

“Me too,” you replied as you softly kissed his lips one more time.

“I don’t want you to stop.”

“Well, we gotta stop at some point.”

“Do we?”

“I need my beauty sleep.”

“Hmm,” he hummed. “You’re already beautiful.”

“You keep complimenting me, I might not let you leave at all.”

“Well, you’re also amazing, and talented, and perfect…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you laughed.

“You’re not gonna invite me in?” He smirked.

“Don’t push it,” you said as you playfully poked his chest with your finger.

“I gotta push it, just a little. Because it’s my-”

“… your birthday, I get it,” you laughed.

“Hey, I gotta play the card while I have it.”

“Don’t tempt me,” you said as you bit your lip. Now, you strongly considered inviting him in. You wanted to. But, you also wanted to possibly try for an actual relationship with him. The two of you got along so well, and you were very attracted to him. The last thing you wanted to do was complicate things before they even got started.

“I won’t,” he smiled. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

He moved in slowly and placed a kiss to your face, making you giggle as his beard tickled you. You pushed him away hesitantly, still trying to keep up on the teasing and playing hard to get.

“Tomorrow is a busy day,” you reminded him. “But, don’t forget that you owe me dinner.”

“If you’re staying in town for another night, we can do it tomorrow after the con.”

“Really? You don’t want to wait until we’re back in L.A.?”

“I don’t want to wait at all,” he replied. “If I could have it my way we’d go to dinner now. You know, start moving things along.”

“You’re a dork.”

“I’m just excited to finally have it all out in the open.”


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader has an uncomfortable run in with a fan during autographs and the messages she keeps seeing on social media are creeping her out. Of course she’s just not used to the fandom yet, so she must be overreacting. A first date with Rob helps to ease her mind.

The next morning, you woke up feeling better than ever. Not only were you still coming down from your performance last night, but you were definitely still on cloud 9 from the fact that you and Rob had finally done something about the obvious attraction between the two of you. 

You recalled the way you had felt when he kissed you last night, and you were honestly excited to see him today so that you could kiss him again. You wanted to never stop kissing him.

When you made your way down to the convention area, Rob was already there along with everyone else. You headed straight for him, obviously grinning like an idiot as you remembered that this man liked you. The same man that you had grown to adore and crush on liked you back. He could have anyone he wanted, and he chose you.

“There you are,” Rob smiled as you approached him. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming today.”

You stopped just in front of him, now unsure of how to act. Was it okay to hug him? Was it okay to kiss him again? All you knew was that you had confessed your feelings to each other, and you were going to go out; but you didn’t really know how much affection was too much considering the fact that you weren’t technically a thing.

He must have read your body language and your hesitation, because he made the move to embrace you, giving you a soft kiss on the lips.

You felt yourself blush as you buried your face against his neck. Obviously he was on the same page as you were about what it was that you were.

You could feel the rest of your friends staring at the two of you, but you really didn’t care now. You wanted to be with Rob and you already knew that everyone else knew it.

“I had to come,” you replied. “Apparently it’s my job to be here.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept okay. Couldn’t get last night out of my head though.”

“Me neither. I’m really excited to take you out on a real date tonight.”

“You haven’t even gone out yet and you’re already all over each other,” Rich cut in. “You sure a date is necessary?”

“Hey, let me wine and dine the lady how I please,” Rob retorted.

“Just saying,” he argued as he threw his hands up in defeat, “you might as well just skip to the wedding. This is all really gross.”

You laughed and gave Rob another kiss, mostly just to mess with Rich; but also because you really couldn’t get enough of Rob. It was enough to get Rich to walk away from the two of you and you were pleased with how well your public display of affection worked in giving you and Rob some time alone.

Before you had a chance to get too cozy. Rob was being ushered away as it was time to get the day started.

“Hey, I’ll see you around,” he promised when he noticed you pouting.

“Yeah, in passing,” you mumbled.

“Look at it this way,” he began. “When the day is over, we’ll be out on a date finally. Then, on Monday, we’ll both be back home in L.A. We can see each other all we want, without interruption.”

“I’m looking forward to all of that.”

“Alright,” he smiled. “I do have to go. I’m sure we’ll have some time during lunch.”

He gave you a quick peck on the cheek before heading out of the room.

                                                           *~*~*                

Later that morning, you were waiting with the girls backstage just before your group panel as Rob and Rich bantered onstage. That was the moment that Adam found you again. Normally, you were always happy to see him; but given the events of last night, you couldn’t help but to feel a little awkward.

He approached you with a smile and you wondered if maybe you had read him wrong in the first place. Yes, Rob had confirmed that Adam liked you and was close to asking you out before Rich pulled him away, but maybe they were wrong about all of that. He looked surprisingly pleased to see you for a man who just had his crush snatched up by another man.

“Hey, no hard feelings,” Adam said with a smile.

“Excuse me?”

“Last night,” he began. “I mean… all day yesterday actually… I was trying to work up the nerve to talk to you, and you left with Rob.”

“Oh,” you whispered. “Yeah. Um, there’s been something between us for a while. He just finally said something last night.”

“Ah, he beat me to it.”

“What do you mean?”

“The thing I wanted to talk to you about… I was going to ask you out.”

“Oh.” you replied, uncomfortably.

“I feel like I’ve been hitting on your for weeks now. I don’t know if you didn’t catch on or if I’m just bad at flirting.”

“I don’t- really know what to say,” you muttered. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m kidding, Y/N,” he laughed. “Not about the flirting with you thing, but I’m just teasing. I probably should’ve made my move though.”

“Adam…”

“Again, I’m kidding. We all knew you were into Rob and only Rob. We also knew he was into you. I did think for a moment that since neither of you ever did anything about it, I might have a shot.”

“Oh, well… he finally did something about it.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, I like seeing you happy. I think he’s the only man who would’ve made you happy.”

“This is a little weird…”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things weird. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s okay, I just- don’t really know what to say.”

“I’m not like, jealous or anything. I like you. I would have definitely asked you out if he hadn’t. But, I think we’re okay as just friends.”

“Yeah. We’re friends. I hope none of this makes that weird.”

“It’s not weird for me,” he laughed. “Really. I knew you weren’t necessarily interested. You were always way too into Rob. Still, I would’ve tried.”

“Well, I’m sorry you missed your shot,” you said, now trying to make the whole conversation less awkward.

“It’s fine,” he smiled. “However, if he fucks it up, you know where to find me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you laughed.

“Really though, he better be good to you.”

“I have no doubt in my mind that he won’t be.”

“Me neither,” he said as he let out a sigh. “Just my luck.”

“We are friends, right?” You asked. You hoped that his missed chance wasn’t enough to scare him off. You truly didn’t see him as anything more than a friend, but you were flattered by the recent flirtations. You also wanted to keep him as a friend, hopefully without the awkwardness that could come along with an admittance like this.

“Of course we are,” he replied.

You were pulled away by Kim as the guys introduced all of you. You offered Adam a smile as you walked away, hoping that none of this would hurt your friendship.

                                                             *~*~*   

**Later that day…**

You sat at your table for autographs, taking your time to greet each fan who came through the line. Truthfully, you were feeling as if you wanted to rush through this.

You really hadn’t seen Rob most of the day. You sat down to have lunch together for a few minutes, and you literally only did see each other in passing. You sort of felt like a love-struck teenager the way you kept thinking about him and wishing that you were spending time with him already.

You forced yourself to focus, knowing that you had to chill a bit. The quicker you got done here, the sooner you’d be off the clock, and the closer you would be to your date with Rob.

Still, you understood that these people paid money to be here and they deserved to have an experience with you, even if you weren’t completely up to it.

Regardless of how sidetracked you were, you did what you always did. You greeted each fan, took the time to personalize autographs, and listened intently as they spoke with you. Right near the end of your line though, you were getting antsy.

 _‘Just a few more fans and I can get out of here,’_ you thought to yourself.

That was when a rather tall, sheepish looking man stepped in front of you. He said nothing at first, only stared at you as he damn near shoved something into your face. You pulled back slightly to see what it was and you slowly grabbed onto it to take it from him.

“This is beautiful,” you said as you held the drawing in your hand. You smiled to yourself, always amazed at how creative the fans were and how much they adored each of you.

“Well, it is a drawing of you, so…” the man said shyly.

He reached his hand up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he made eye contact.

“Thank you,” you chuckled. You reached for a pen, taking care to sign your name in a blank spot on the artwork. “This is really amazing. You did this?”

“I did. I just wanted to do something to show you that I love you and I hope it turned out okay.”

You smiled up at him as you held the drawing in your hand.

“Well, you really are talented. I can’t believe anyone would take the time to draw me. I really appreciate this.”

“I watch you all the time,” the man blurted out after a brief pause in the conversation.

“Oh really?” You asked, amused by his nervousness.

“I mean, your episodes. The other work you’ve done. I’ve seen it all.”

“Longtime fan…” you trailed off. “I appreciate that as well.”

“I probably know you better than anyone,” he smiled. “I’m your number one fan.”

“Well, number one fan, keep up the good work,” you said as you handed the drawing back to him.

He reached for it, making a point of touching your hand as he did so. You anxiously let go of the drawing, moving your hand from his touch as his sudden movement startled you.

Normally, you weren’t concerned with fans touching you or even hugging you, but you suddenly grew uncomfortable by situation, and the man’s stare wasn’t helping.

“I will. Thank you. I’ll see you again, Y/N. Soon.”

You forced a smile, wishing that he would just move along now. But, he hesitated, still staring at you as if he was trying to come up with something else to say. You waited, unsure of what you could even do at this point. He was nervous and making things weird, so that in turn made you nervous. As if she understood, your handler stood up from her seat and you watched as she ushered the man away, trying to hurry him through as she could tell that you just wanted to be out of there.

You tried to focus on the next person in line, but out of the corner of your eyes, you saw the man stop briefly near your table. He continued to watch you and you realized that he hadn’t stopped staring at you through the entire thing.

You ignored him the best you could given the way he watched you, and it wasn’t long before one of the convention staff members came along and moved him away.

You signed your last item and glanced over to where the man had hesitated for so long. He wasn’t there anymore, but for some reason you felt a chill run through your body as you replayed his strange behavior and the way he stared at you.

“You ready?” Your handler asked, breaking you from your thoughts.

“What? Yeah. I’m done.”

You stood up and waved to some of the fans who were sitting in their seats and quickly made your way out of the main room.

                                                        *~*~*   

As you got ready in your room, you checked in on your campaign yet again. You were really becoming quite obsessed with keeping track of how many people purchased something and what fans were saying online. Again, you started to read through some notifications on Twitter. It was daunting to try to make the time to like and respond to comments, but you wanted to make a good impression on the fans now that you were a common fixture around the conventions.

There were a lot of nice things being said, but of course, you let yourself get stuck on the weird things. You didn’t know if you could ever get used to people saying that they loved you, even online. It wasn’t so much those words in particular that bothered you, it was the way that some people chose to relay that message.

You stopped on a particular message that happened to catch your eye;

_‘You looked so beautiful today. Stunning. I can’t wait to see you again soon.’_

Again, the message included an unnecessary amount of heart eye emojis. You wondered if this was a message from the same fan who’s last message you had been weirded out by. You hadn’t really paid much attention to usernames before, but you did this time. The username was a weird mash up of your characters name from the show and a name that you didn’t recognize. You assumed it was just your characters name and the name of whoever had made the account; the others would call this sort of mashup a ‘ship’ name.

You held your thumb over the username, contemplating if you should at least check the account out just to see if it was the same person who had left the other message. You remembered the way Briana had teased you about holding onto your fandom innocence. It had been a joke since you weren’t well versed on the fan accounts and fan fiction, but you definitely heeded her words. You weren’t sure if you were ready to see what the people behind these accounts really shared; so, you chose to close the app instead

* * *

Later, you found yourself on your first date with Rob. You would be lying if you said it was something that you hadn’t been looking forward to at all. But, you tried your hardest to contain your nervousness.

“I’m so glad we both chose to stay an extra night,” Rob said as he escorted you to your table at the restaurant.

“Me too,” you replied. “I usually always fly home Sunday night.”

“Well, this works out great for us. Not only do I get to go out with you right away, but we actually get to be alone because no one else really sticks around after conventions.”

“Yeah, we actually get some privacy for once.”

You both sat down opposite each other, making small talk before you ordered drinks and your meals.

“You know, I feel like I should be asking you questions,” he began. “It’s our first date, and generally you get to know each other on a first date.”

“Oh yeah,” you replied. “What are some good first date questions?”

“I don’t know… stuff about our families, childhoods, hobbies…”

“So, like, stuff we already know about each other?” You laughed.

“Yeah. I’m just realizing that I already know everything about you really.”

“Well, we’ve grown very close since I’ve joined the show.”

“We probably should’ve just dated in the beginning,” he smiled.

“Alas, we hesitated,” you said dramatically. “We can still have a good first date though.”

“You’re right. I guess I can go with the ‘how was your day, honey?’ question.”

“Alright, that works,” you chuckled. “It was good. I was too busy to see you though.”

“Well, I’m here now.”

“And I’m grateful for that. I always feel so relaxed around you. I needed this after today.”

“Rough day? I thought you said it was good.”

“No. It was fine. Just- autographs kinda sucked because I was anxious to get out of there.”

“You rushed through?”

“Not at all. I take cues from everyone else. I understand that I need to take my time and talk to people. They want that interaction, I get it. I just- I don’t know… I had a weird experience and then there’s been some weird stuff online…”

“A weird experience?” He asked, looking concerned. “What happened?”

“It was nothing,” you laughed. “I’m just not used to how some fans act.”

“You know, if someone makes you uncomfortable while you’re at a convention, you just have to tell someone. No one wants any of us to be in uncomfortable situations. Someone can fix things if they need to be fixed.”

“I know. It was stupid. It wasn’t anything to cause a scene about.”

“Talk to me about it.”

“It was just- a guy came through my line. He kinda creeped me out, but he had me sign this really nice drawing that he did of me. Really, it amazes me how talented these fans are.”

“Why did he creep you out?”

“Just the things he said, which probably meant nothing. He was probably just nervous to meet me. But, then he like, grabbed my hand as I handed the drawing back to him. My handler had to move him along because he just kinda stood there and stared at me.”

“Well, to be fair, I kinda can’t stop looking at you either,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” you chuckled. “But he stood off to the side near the table and just- watched me until someone made him leave.”

“I’m sorry Y/N,” Rob sighed. “I didn’t mean to make it sound as if you weren’t allowed to be creeped out. You’re right, that sounds really odd. But, you have to remember that he had probably just met you for the first time. He was maybe a super fan?”

“I think he was,” you replied.

“You’re gorgeous. I see it, the fans see it. You probably just startled him with your beauty.”

“You are quite the sweet talker.”

“I mean it though. Things like that have happened to all of us. Hell, I still get fans who act like that with me; even ones that have met me before. I’m sorry it made you uncomfortable. I get it. After a while though, you sorta get used to it.”

“I’m just trying to navigate this whole fandom thing. I’ve never had an experience like that and I’ve also never really gotten a ton of interaction with fans on social media; not until my campaign started anyway.”

“What do you mean? It’s all pretty easy to navigate. Once you just learn to accept the creeps.”

“Yeah, no. I love that the fans are excited. I just- how do you handle the really enthusiastic fans online?”

“Enthusiastic?” He asked.

He raised his brow questioningly at you.

“The ones who comment all the time and tell you that they love you… like, they don’t even know me? How can they love me that much?”

“To be fair, it’s very easy to fall in love with you,” he replied with a smile. “But, this is just what comes with the job, Y/N. We have very invested fans and they’re passionate. You’re taking it all the wrong way. It takes getting used to, especially when you’ve just sort of put yourself out there with this campaign. You’ll get used to it.”

“Okay,” you sighed. “I knew I was overreacting.”

“Not overreacting. You’re just not used to it yet.”

“What did you mean when you said it’s easy to fall in love with me?”

“Oh, you heard that?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I heard it.”

“Just- I like you. A lot. I can understand why people love you so much, because I’m getting there too. Maybe just in a different way.”

“Just for the record, I really like you too.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to say anything. I feel like we’ve missed out on a lot.”

“It’s fine. We’re here now.”

“Yeah, we are,” he smiled. “I really hope you don’t think it’s a mistake to go out with me. I would really love to spend more time with you when we get home.”

“We always hang out,” you reminded him.

“Yeah, but I mean, it would be great to see you every day, have dinner like this together every night.”

“I would really like that. I like being around you. I think it would be nice to be with you more.”

“And now I can make out with you and it won’t even be weird.”

You let out a laugh, charmed by his silliness.

“Well, that is a plus.”

“I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing you,” he began. “I want to kiss you all the time.”

“I think we can make that happen. Maybe not all the time though…”

“Is it bad that I want to kiss you right now?”

“Not at all,” you grinned. “Although, I might suggest we finish dinner. Maybe I’ll let you kiss me when you walk me back to my room.”

                                                          *~*~*   

“Goodnight, Y/N,” Rob smiled sweetly as he stopped with you at your door.

“Goodnight,” you replied.

You leaned in, making the first move to kiss him. He eagerly allowed you to; wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into him.

You kissed for some time. It was slow and sweet and you lost yourself in the way he made you feel when you were with him. It wasn’t until you needed to breathe that you finally pulled away from him.

“Goodnight,” you said again.

“You’re not gonna invite me in still?” He smirked.

“Really?” You sighed, feigning annoyance at his persistence.

“I’m kidding,” he said softly. He leaned in, giving you a chaste kiss to the lips, reaching up to place his hand on your cheek.

“I’d say tonight was a good night.”

“We probably should have had dinner together a long time ago.”

“I was waiting for you,” you reminded him.

“I hope it was worth the wait.”

“It was,” you smiled. “I had a really nice time. I look forward to more dates, that is, if you’re still interested.”

He grinned, easing his way toward you so that he could give you another kiss. You happily accepted, gripping onto him as if you didn’t want to ever let him go.

“I’m definitely still interested,” he said when he pulled back.

You said goodnight again and you definitely watched him leave before making it into your own room. Once inside, you leaned up against the door and sighed heavily. you couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot as you thought about how amazing it felt just to be with him like this.

You could finally just be affectionate with him and you no longer had to hold back on how you really felt about him. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt this happy, and the two of you weren’t even officially a couple or anything.

You knew that there was plenty of time for all of that though. While you didn’t necessarily need to take the time to get to know each other, you were pleased with the fact that you could take the time to enjoy being together as more than just friends. 

You couldn’t wait to get back home. At least there you knew that you and Rob could see each other even more, and possibly make this official at some point soon.

You had all but forgotten the weirdness of the day when you laid down for bed. You only slept peacefully as you reminded yourself that you were finally with the man you had adored for so long. Things could only be perfect from here on out.


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is ready to establish what it is that she and Rob are exactly. An appearance at a Louden Swain show gets people talking, and a particular fan is becoming a lot more noticeable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter jumps around a lot. I tried to make it flow a bit better, but I needed to shove a lot of stuff into not a lot of words just to move the story along.

When you finally made it home on Monday, you dropped your bags on the floor and plopped down in your bed. You were exhausted. Traveling like that always took a lot out of you.

You decided to check the status of your campaign, and was thrilled to find that you had exceeded your goal and people were still talking about it.

You scrolled through the comments in the thread, stopping occasionally to reply to fans. There were a few comments that sort of weirded you out, all posted by the same user from before. By now, you had that username engraved in your memory, and you sort of hated that you had made a point of remembering it. You tried to ignore them, but there were a lot in the thread as you scrolled through.

You found yourself hesitating on the username again. You didn’t really want to go down this road, curiosity got the best of you and you clicked on the user, waiting for Twitter to bring you to their profile. There wasn’t anything there that could hint to who this person really was, so you began to explore their posts.

There were a lot of retweets, mostly of your campaign stuff. There were also a lot of retweets of photos taken of you by various people during the last convention. That was strange enough on its own; you weren’t really used to having fans after all. Even more, you weren’t used to knowing that there were fans out there who seemingly dedicated their entire social media pages to one person.

You started to read some of the tweets, most of which praised your beauty and your talent. The one that really caught your eye sort of made your stomach turn.

It was a retweet of a video taken from SNS when you had performed #1 Crush. The message read: _‘I feel like she was singing this for me. It’s strange the way love makes you do crazy things.’_

You frowned, definitely weirded out even more now. You knew you could get used to the whole fan thing, you could even get used to fan accounts, but the fact that someone could really take your performance of a song like that and make it sound so creepy was something you couldn’t get used to.

You decided to get someone else’s input on things like this. Mostly, you just wanted to hear another person tell you that this was all normal behavior.

While the messages lately had been making you uncomfortable, you also understood that you were still fairly new to all of this, so perhaps these things were expected.

You decided to call Kim, relieved when she answered.

“Y/N, what’s up?” She asked.

“I have a question,” you began. “How do you handle creepy fans?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, not in like, real life or anything. I love the fans. But, lately; I’ve come across some weird fan accounts that sort of get to me.”

“Did you discover fanfiction?” She laughed.

“No, I did not discover fanfiction. I’m staying far away from that for now.”

“What are you talking about exactly?”

“I don’t know,” you muttered. “Sometimes I just get strange comments on posts. Sometimes I get curious and it leads me to looking at people’s accounts.”

“Not always a good idea.”

“Yeah, am I overreacting?”

“Maybe a little. Look, you’re on a show that has a very loyal following. We’ve got a lot of fans, and most of them are really good people. You’re going to get declarations of love, so much support that it makes your head spin, and yes, occasionally you’re going to get a few people who just seem really pushy and creepy.”

“Okay, so seeing messages from someone telling me that they’re in love with me is normal?”

“It’s normal for us.”

“How do I stop feeling so… weirded out by it?”

“You learn to ignore that kind of stuff. It’s usually just a fan who wants your attention. They want you to know who they are and they want you to know that they love you. Some people just don’t share their enthusiasm for things in the best way.”

“I found a fan page that shared a video of me singing.”

“I guarantee there are more than what you stumbled across.”

“They said they felt like I was singing that song for them.”

“Like I said, there are some weirdos out there.”

“The stalker song, Kim. They thought that song like, spoke to them or something. That’s just weird.”

“Well, maybe you misinterpret what they meant by it. They probably just meant that it touched them to hear you finally sing.”

“I guess I just don’t get the fact that people insist that they love me. They don’t really know me.”

“No, but fans tend to latch on to something that they feel they connect with. There’s just something about you that people love. Really, you just gotta own it. Be kind and understanding. Haven’t you ever been a fan of something?”

“Yeah, you’re right…” you mused. “I had a thing for Justin Timberlake back in my day.”

“Let me guess, you were in love?”

“Maybe a little,” you laughed. “He just didn’t know that we were meant to be.”

“Alas,” Kim said softly. “Young love…”

“I made it through that heartbreak though,” you joked.

“And now you have Rob.”

“Yeah, now I have Rob. I’m pretty damn lucky.”

“You have a Rob, a great gig going for you with the show, and now you have rabid fans. It comes with the territory.”

“Thanks Kim,” you said. “I didn’t realize that I was overreacting.”

“It happens. It takes some getting used to, but trust me, these fans are nothing to be afraid of. Sure, some of them can be overwhelming, but they genuinely love us. It is the SPN family after all.”

“I sort of feel like I shouldn’t ignore even the creepy ones.”

“Maybe they’re the ones who need us to see them the most.”

Feeling a bit better about it all now that Kim had talked you through it, you decided that she was right. Whoever this fan was that had a whole page basically dedicated to you, was probably just reaching out to you. They probably just wanted you to notice them just once. You thought about how giddy you would have been had Justin Timberlake noticed you somehow back when you were younger. That probably would have made your life had it ever happened.

You found the fan page again and scrolled through until you found the post with the video. Still, reading those words made you cringe a little, but you decided it would be really nice of you to take some time to let your fans know that you saw them and you appreciated them.

_‘I don’t usually sing in front of people, but you all asked for it so much that I just had to. This was all for you. Thank you so much! Love you too!’_

It sounded a bit too enthusiastic, but also didn’t want to make this person feel bad by leaving just a generic reply. After adding on a few emojis, you hit send and exited the app.

~*~*~

Throughout the week; you and Rob made time to see each other as often as possible. Mostly, you kept date nights limited to your places. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be seen with him in public, but you definitely wanted to keep him to yourself for a while. You may not have been well-versed in what it meant to be a celebrity of sorts, but you knew that the second someone spotted the two of you together looking a little more cozy than usual, the rumors would fly.

Near the end of the week, it was Rob who suggested that you have a night out.

“We’re playing a show tonight,” he explained. “I’d love for you to be there.”

“I’m always at your shows,” you reminded him.

“I know, but you’ve been keeping me locked up a lot lately. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to be out in public with me.”

“I’m not ashamed of you, if that’s what you’re getting at,” you said. “Can you blame me for wanting to keep you all to myself?”

“No,” he chuckled. “It has been nice to just hang out without interruption.”

“I’ll be there. That is, if we go together.”

“People might talk.”

“People have been talking ever since the day we met,” you said with a smile.

**~*~*~ After the concert~*~*~**

Although this was his show, and you were just along for the ride; that didn’t stop some of the fans from approaching you outside after the show was over. At first, some of them hesitantly asked you for selfies; but you were quick to accept. Once others saw that you were okay with being approached, you had others line up to take pictures with you.

You watched as Rob and the guys greeted fans. You couldn’t help but smile at how sweet they were with everyone.

“You ready to get out of here?” Rob asked as he grabbed your hand.

He gave it a squeeze as he pulled you against him, placing a gentle kiss to your lips. You suddenly realized that he was absolutely not shy about making sure that people knew you were together.

He waved goodbye to the now dwindling crowd that had gathered outside of the venue and helped you into the car.

“Where to?” He asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going home.”

“Alright, we can go to your place.”

“I’m going home alone,” you reminded him.

“Really? You don’t need someone to cuddle with? I’m a great cuddler.”

“I don’t doubt that,” you laughed. “But, if I let you stay the night for cuddling… I don’t know that I could resist much else.”

“Again, I don’t see the problem here.”

You rolled your eyes at him, laughing in return. Normally, persistence like this would be a turn off for you, but not when it came to him. You found it endearing really. It didn’t help that you very much wanted to have him stay the night and you very much thought about being with him often. Still, you wanted to take things slow with him. You liked him way too much to risk moving things too fast between you.

“Rob…”

“I’m still kidding, Y/N,” he began. “I know. You want to take things slow. I respect that. I’m never going to pressure you. I just like to flirt a little extra hard with you.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I know you almost can’t resist me.”

“Do you know how hard it is to tell you that you can’t stay the night?”

“Really?” He asked, looking intrigued.

“Mhm hmm. I almost give in, every time.”

“Oh?”

“All I think about is how nice it would be to have you in my bed with me.”

You glanced over to him as he drove, smirking at him as you decided to turn up your own flirting a notch just to mess with him. You reached over and placed your hand on his thigh and you felt him tense up immediately as he tried to focus on the road.

“I think about that day you gave me a little show… how amazing your body would feel against my hands as I touched you. I wonder what it would feel like… the weight of your body on mine, how good you would feel inside of me.”

He let out an audible gasp as you ran your hand a little further up his thigh. You grinned when you saw the way his hands gripped the steering wheel before he looked over at you, eyes wide with excitement.

Figuring that it was best not to make him cause an accident, you removed your hand from him and straightened up in your seat, pleased with the way you had teased him finally.

“So,” you continued, “you can imagine that this decision is just as hard for me as it is for you.”

“Oh god, woman-“ he breathed out.

~*~*~

When he got you home, Rob kissed you hard as you stopped at your doorstep. You allowed him this, now sort of thinking that you should just invite him in. You hadn’t been seeing each other for long at all, but you had known each other long enough and obviously had real chemistry.

Still, you wanted whatever this was to work out between you. You could really see yourself with him in the long run and you didn’t want to move too quickly just yet.

You hesitantly said goodnight to him, sort of hoping that he’d linger a bit longer. But, he remained a gentleman and headed home after making sure you made it inside safely.

You sort of regretted teasing him in the car. By the time you were in bed, you were really regretting not letting him stay the night.

~*~*~

By the next morning, it was practically common knowledge that you and Rob were a thing. The internet was buzzing with news of you being at the show last night, and the fans were gossiping about the fact that the two of you were extra cozy and affectionate with each other.

Someone even made sure to point out that the two of you had definitely left together as well.

There were photos; mostly of you and Rob holding hands, kissing, and looking at each other affectionately. It was things like this that made you wonder if you really could get used to this life. It was one thing to have fans gossip about you, but it was quite another to have them share pictures of you in private moments that you weren’t even aware they were taking pictures of.

You tried to talk yourself down by telling yourself that this is what you signed up for; not only by being an actress, but by choosing to date a man who was very much loved within the fandom.

When the two of you met up for lunch later that day, you decided to bring it up; wondering how he felt about all of it.

“Did you see the pictures?” You asked.

“Which ones?” He replied as he quickly took his phone out to scroll through his messages. “Did you send me pictures?”

“I did not send you nudes!” You cried out, laughing as you pushed his phone down.

He laughed in return, pocketing his phone as he leaned in to kiss you.

“Someone posted pictures of us from your show last night.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even know anyone was taking pictures.”

“Really? All those people with their phones, asking for selfies, and you thought no one was taking pictures?”

“I just meant- I didn’t realize they took pictures of you and I.”

“Well, considering that our interactions have been fairly tame; I can’t imagine it was anything incriminating.”

“No. Just pictures of us holding hands and kissing.”

“Was it okay for me to hold your hand and kiss you in front of people at the show?” He asked. He seemed to be gauging your thoughts on this.

“Yeah, it was okay.”

“So, there’s pictures of us out there… is that a concern for you?”

“No, Rob,” you said in exasperation. “I don’t care that people know… I just don’t like to be photographed without my knowledge.”

“Oh, baby…” he cooed. “You are in the wrong business.”

“I know,” you chuckled. “I’m being an idiot. I’ll get used to it.”

“Really though, does it bother you that it’s out there that you and I are… together, or whatever?”

“It doesn’t bother me,” you promised. “I’m a lucky girl. Maybe I like making all the fangirls jealous. Speaking of… being together… or, whatever… what are we exactly?”

“I guess we haven’t established that, have we?”

“Nah, we just make out a whole lot,” you laughed.

“I’m not seeing anyone else, and I have no plans to as long as you’re still interested.”

“So, neither of us are seeing other people,” you stated. “What does that mean?”

“You’re pushing for a label,” he grinned.

“Look, I’m getting old. I don’t have time to fuck around. Are we doing this or what?”

“If you think you’re old, then I apologize for the fact that your boyfriend is ancient.”

“Boyfriend?”

“I mean, I think that word is appropriate.”

“I like it,” you smiled. “We’re really together then? Like, I can delete all my dating apps now?”

“Um, yeah. I would recommend deleting the dating apps. Unless you want a jealous boyfriend?”

“I don’t know, I’ve seen you act jealous. I think it’s kinda hot.”

“The only thing I’ll be jealous of now is Adam, every time he feels the need to talk to you.”

“We’re friends,” you reminded him.

“I know. He’s my friend too. But I also know that he was so damn close to asking you out. I can’t help but feel a little jealous.”

“Fair. But, you also have to remember that I’m apparently in a relationship with you now.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he said softly as he reached up to brush a stand of hair from your face. He moved in slowly and kissed you deeply on the lips.

“Hmm,” you hummed in return. “If that’s how you want to look at it, who am I to argue?”


	6. Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader has a new handler and he’s slightly strange. Now, she’s receiving gifts and it makes her uncomfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longer I go not writing, the worse my writing gets. This is super all over the place and choppy, but I’m trying.

**Next con weekend**

You were falling into your new relationship with Rob comfortably. Just as things were so natural between the two of you when you were just friends, even putting a name to what you were now didn’t keep you from making this relationship an easy one.

You were still wanting to take things slow with him, and were grateful that he respected that. Your time spent together mostly consisted of talking and cuddling and a lot of making out.

By the time the next convention weekend rolled around, you had been officially in a relationship for a couple of weeks. Your co-workers and friends had not only expected the two of you to end up together, but they were thrilled to see you when you got back to work so that they could hear all about it.

You indulged them a bit, not wanting to really speak too openly of your blossoming relationship too soon. But, you figured it was okay to let them know that you were happy and that you and Rob were very much into each other. Perhaps it was too early to tell for sure, but you adored him, and you really saw this relationship lasting for a long time.

While you and the girls were talking and laughing together, each of them going on and on about how happy they were for you, you were politely interrupted by one of the convention organizers.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” they said directly to you, “but I thought I should introduce you to your handler for the weekend.”

You eyed a man that you had never seen before, now feeling a bit concerned as your usual handler appeared to be absent.

“This is Dane,” they continued. “He’s helped with a few conventions, and since your usual handler is unable to make it this weekend, we thought we’d give him the chance at the position.”

“Is everything okay?” You asked.

“Oh, Laura is fine. She just had something come up is all.”

“Okay,” you smiled as you stood up to greet the man. “I’m Y/N.”

You stuck your hand out to shake his and the man very hesitantly met you at your movement. He gave to a firm, yet awkward handshake and you found yourself quickly pulling away from him. You weren’t sure why he was immediately making you uncomfortable, but you just assumed it was because he was someone new and the weekend probably wasn’t going to run as smoothly as they usually did with Laura around.

Dane; was a serious, almost neurotic young man. You realized quickly that he never smiled and mostly just stood around close to you, looking as if he were Secret Service or something.

This wasn’t something that you were used to at all. Usually you had fun handlers that you knew well enough to joke around with. Dane was not that man though. Even when you cracked your best joke in front of him, he didn’t even crack a smile.

You had all but given up on trying to be friendly with him today. It was strange to have someone around you all the time who took everything so seriously and just didn’t get your sense of humor. Still, you tried to make the best of it.

It wasn’t until you made the motion to take a short break while you were in the greenroom before a panel, that his behavior really started to weird you out.

“Where are you going?” He asked, looking panicked as you headed for the door.

“I’m going to the bathroom, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” he mumbled in return. “Hold on, I’m coming.”

“Um, I think I can handle this by myself.”

“No. I’m not going into the bathroom with you. That would be weird. But, I should probably wait outside for you.”

“It’s fine, you really don’t have to-“

“Just let me do my job, please.”

You wanted to remind him that his job was to simply make sure that you stuck to your schedule and made it to appearances on time. Occasionally, you might ask him for something; but his job was certainly not to be your bodyguard.

Rather than argue with him, you let out a sigh and just gave in. It wasn’t unusual for handlers to escort you everywhere at conventions, but that didn’t stop you from at least trying to evade them. 

*~*~*

After your panel, you were back in the greenroom, now feeling slightly annoyed as Dane hoovered near you still.

You only perked up when Rob walked into the room, and you suddenly realized that you wanted to have a moment alone with him, which would be impossible with the way your handler stayed so close to you.

“Why don’t you go take a break?” You said to him as Rob made his way to you.

“Oh, I’m not sure-“

“It’s fine. I’m literally sitting in the green room. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I mean, I could go for a walk outside or something. I’ve been working all day.”

“Then go,” you urged.

“Okay, but you’ll let me know if you need to leave this room?”

“Um, sure.”

“I can give you my number so you can text if you need anything.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I do though. I don’t give out my phone number.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I’m an idiot.”

“It’s fine. Please, go take that break.”

“Great. Do you need anything before I go?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

You watched him as he left, breathing a sigh of relief now that you had a moment without him.

Now that you were mostly alone, at least without Dane breathing down your neck, you turned your attention to Rob who had already joined you on the couch and was already snuggling up against you.

“Looks like you have a fan,” Rob teased as he leaned in for a kiss.

You obliged, kissing him in return, as you shrugged off his observation.

“He’s just doing his job.”

“Is his job to literally follow you around everywhere like a creep?”

“Okay, maybe he’s just never done a job like this before.”

“Someone should tell him that it’s not that serious.”

“Be nice.”

“What? He’s kinda creepy… the way that he keeps looking at you. Do I need to be the one to break it to him that you’re taken?”

“Really? Are you jealous of him?”

“Maybe a little,” he grinned.

“Trust me, you have absolutely nothing to be jealous of.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” you said slyly as you leaned in to kiss his neck. You gave his skin a quick nip before bringing your lips up to his ear. “I know that you’re going to be the one I take back to my room with me tonight.”

“Really?” he asked, raising a brow at you.

“Yes, really,” you purred.

“Oh. For what reason?”

“I’ve been giving it a lot of thought… and I’ve decided that I’m ready.”

“Ready for…?”

“You know…” you teased.

This time, you ran a hand down his chest slowly before leaning in to kiss him. You let your lips linger on his.

“Nope. I really don’t know.”

“I’m trying to be seductive here,” you said with a pout.

“Is that what that was?” He grinned.

“Jerk,” you replied as you pretended to look hurt.

“I’m kidding,” he laughed. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in close to his body. He kissed you deeply and you hummed happily against his mouth. When he pulled back, he eyed you questioningly.

“Are you serious though?” he asked.

“Yes I’m serious,” you smiled.

*~*~*

**Later at your meet and greet**

“So… you and Rob…” a young girl teased. She gave you a playful smile and you felt yourself blush.

You were about ten minutes into your meet and greet. The conversation had been nice, mostly the group asking you about the show and the possibility of you continuing to pursue singing. Things had quickly shifted as the girl brought up Rob, and you blushed noticeably as you tried to think of what to say.

Your relationship with him was no secret at this point. There had already been pictures of the two of you obviously kissing and spending a lot of time together. While you had wanted to keep things quiet for just a little while, you knew this was inevitable.

“Do I need to remove you from the room?”

You heard him before you noticed him stand up from his seat and approach the table.

“N-no,” the girl stuttered, slinking down in her chair.

“No personal questions,” Dane said firmly. “I should have you kicked out of the convention.”

“That’s not necessary,” you cut in, coming to the young girls defense.

Dane looked at you almost angrily.

“She broke the rules,” he stated. “No one should be snooping in your personal life.”

“It’s not a big deal,” you argued.

He opened his mouth, looking as if he were about to argue with you; but you shot him a cold glare and he immediately backed down.

Instead of reprimanding him right then, you turned your attention back to the group. There would be a better time and place for letting your handler know that he was out of line, and this wasn’t it.

“While I understand that people are talking…” you began, “I’m not going to comment on that right now.”

The group nodded their understanding on the topic and the conversation shifted rather quickly.

*~*~*

You hated conflict. The last thing you ever wanted to do was get into an altercation with anyone. But, you knew that Dane had been way out of line with his behavior during the meet and greet. You knew you had to address it before it could happen again at any point.

“Look, I get that you’re just doing your job, but you can’t treat people like that. I had it under control,” you said as the two of you walked out of the meet and greet room, now heading back to the green room.

“I was just looking out for you. I understand how private you are, I didn’t want a problem with her.”

“I have to keep some things private, yes. Regardless, you should have just let me deal with it in the first place. I don’t need you unless I say I need you.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“I know. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. Just- please let me handle things like that from now on.”

“I’m so sorry,” he reiterated. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good. I’m glad we had this talk. I don’t like confrontation, but I also stand very firm with my fans.”

“You were protecting that girl,” he pointed out.

“She was curious. Everyone is.”

“Well, are the two of you a couple?”

His question made your stomach turn. You looked at him, unsure of why he thought it was appropriate to ask something that he had been so upset over a fan asking. The two of you stopped outside of the green room, and you studied him, wondering if you should make a point of reminding him of his job again and that he shouldn’t even be speaking to you this way.

“Just like I didn’t answer her question, I’m not answering it for you. Please don’t ask me about my personal life again.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“Stop apologizing, please. Just do your job and know when you need to step in or not.”

“Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll back down. Just let me know if you need anything, otherwise; I’ll stay out of your way.”

You watched him walk away, confused by his behavior and sudden shortness with you.

*~*~*

**That night…**

When the day was over and you and Rob had finished what was left of your work responsibilities; you made a point of getting the two of you out of there quickly. Your friends had tried to talk you into going out for drinks, but all it took was a little convincing and even Rob was turning down a night out.

The moment you walked into your room with Rob right at your heels, you saw the flowers.

There, on the table sat a dozen red roses and you smiled to yourself as you walked toward them.

You glanced over to Rob, smiling still as you picked up one of the roses. As you did so, you immediately pricked your finger on a thorn. Startled, you dropped the flower, bringing your finger to your lips as you sucked the drop of blood off.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Thorns,” you chuckled.

He moved toward you and assessed the damage, seeing that you were okay as he placed a kiss to your hand.

“This is all very sweet,” you purred as you leaned in to kiss him. “You’re so getting lucky tonight.”

“I didn’t do this,” he replied hesitantly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I didn’t send you flowers.”

“Then who did?”

He shrugged as you began to search for something. A card, a note… anything to let you know who these were from.

You found a small envelope and ripped it open quickly to read what was written on it.

_‘I’m sorry. Forgive me.’_

That was all the card said. No name, no mention of who had done this.

“Who the hell is sending you flowers anyway?” Rob asked, annoyance present in his voice as he frowned at the bouquet.

“I don’t know,” you replied. “There’s no name.”

“What does it say?”

“Just… _‘I’m sorry. Forgive me._ ”

“Jeez, who offended you today?”

“I don’t know what happened that would warrant apology flowers from anyone…”

“You sure?”

“Well, there was that thing my my handler today…”

“You think he sent you these?”

“I don’t know. I just- he did something earlier today that I had to talk to him about. He apologized over and over again for it, to the point where I had to tell him to stop apologizing.”

“So… he feels bad still and sends you a crap load of flowers to make up for it?”

You shrugged, understanding that it sounded a bit far fetched.

“It would explain the apology note.”

“Yeah, but if this guy in particular wanted to let you know how sorry he was, wouldn’t he at least sign his name on the card?”

“I don’t know, Rob,” you sighed. “I’m mostly concerned with how they even got here. I don’t know who they’re from, and they’re just… in my room.”

“Sometimes hotel staff will deliver stuff. Usually it’s convention staff that approves gifts.”

“Yeah…” you trailed off.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just weirded out.”

“They’re just flowers,” he chuckled.

“And are you okay with someone sending me “just flowers”?” You asked.

“No,” he mumbled. “I’m kinda pissed I didn’t think of it first. What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” you sighed. “I guess I’ll talk to him tomorrow about this.”

“Are you sure it was him?”

“I can’t imagine who else it could be. Besides, he’s been really clingy anyway, maybe I need to draw a line somewhere with him again.”

“I just- I think you should tread lightly here. These might not be from him at all.”

“I know, but I think I need to ask at least.”

“Okay,” he shrugged, “do whatever you think you need to do.”

You didn’t really know why, but you were suddenly creeped out again. You understood that gifts were just a part of being in this fandom. You weren’t the only one who received gifts. Still, the fact that someone had just left you a large bouquet of roses that undoubtedly cost a lot of money, it left you feeling uneasy. Even your own boyfriend hadn’t gotten to the point of sending you gifts like this yet. It was unnerving that a stranger would.

By the way Rob played the whole thing off, you really did think that you were still overreacting.

“Where were we?” Rob smirked as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you in for a deep kiss.

You tried to focus on him, letting him lead you in a slow, deliberate kiss. You wrapped your arms around him, pulling him close and trying to get yourself in the mood. Based on his eagerness, and the way he was touching you, you knew that he was definitely in the mood. He was certainly not letting any of this bother him.

Even though he was able to look past the weirdness of the situation, for some reason, you weren’t able to. You had plans for tonight, and you had so very much wanted for this to be your first night with him. Now, you simply weren’t in the mood.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he broke the kiss between you.

“I’m fine,” you breathed out.

“I can tell that your mind is somewhere else.”

“I’m sorry,” you replied. “I’ll focus.”

You leaned in to kiss him again. He gave you a quick peck on the lips and pulled you away.

“Look, if you’re not ready, then you’re not ready.”

“I told you that I’m ready.”

“I think you were,” he argued. “But something’s bothering you.”

“Can we maybe take a raincheck on tonight?” You sighed finally.

He was right. Something was bothering you and you knew it was obvious. The last thing you really wanted was to make your first night with Rob one where you weren’t completely present.

You half expected him to put up a fight, but he certainly didn’t. If nothing else, he respected you enough not to make a big deal out of this.

“These really upset you, don’t they?” He asked softly as he nodded toward the flowers.

You felt him run a hand along your back, almost consolingly as he realized that they did, in fact, creep you out.

“I get that I’m overreacting,” you replied. “But, yeah… they really do.”

“Alright,” he smiled. “I’m going to leave you alone tonight because I can tell you’re not really feeling it right now.”

“I just need some sleep,” you said. “I think today was just a lot and I think tomorrow could be better.”

“Then I’ll go. Unless you need me to stay… and I’m not trying to get into your pants,” he smiled. “I just- if you’re really that freaked out, and you need some company, I can stay. We could cuddle.”

“I already told you that cuddling with you is only going to lead to bad things,” you smiled in return. “I’ll be fine though. Go, you need some sleep too.”

He gave you a deep kiss, as if to let you know that your sudden change of heart was no big deal.

“I’m holding you to that rain check,” he teased as he headed for the door. “And my offer for cuddling still stands.”

You gave him a forced laugh, wishing that you weren’t letting all of this get to you. You wanted him, you really did. But you also knew that you wouldn’t be able to focus on being with him with the way you were letting all of this weirdness get to you. Tomorrow would be better. You’d make sure of it.

“Hey, do you think you could take those with you on your way out?” You asked.

“Yeah, what do you want me to do with them?”

“Just get rid of them please.”

“Sure,” he said as he picked the flowers up.

You watched as he frowned at them, probably still feeling bad that he hadn’t thought of sending you flowers first.


	7. Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is questioning everything that she thinks. Maybe she’s reading the people around her all wrong. Rob doesn’t seem to be too concerned with the fact that someone is obviously expressing interest in Reader, so maybe she’s overreacting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some quickly written smut, because I haven’t written in a while.

The following morning, you decided not to hesitate on checking with Dane about the flowers. You felt deeply uncomfortable even bringing it up, because you didn’t want to accuse the man if he hadn’t sent you them; but he was honestly the only person you could think of that would even send you a note like that.

When you did find him, you treaded lightly just as Rob had suggested. You didn’t want to insult the man.

“Can I talk to you about something?” You asked carefully as you approached him.

“Um, sure,” he replied hesitantly. “Look, I said I was sorry about yesterday…”

“It’s not about that,” you assured him. “So, last night I received flowers from someone. I’m not quite sure who they were from; but there was an apology note and I was wondering if they were from you considering what happened yesterday.”

“What? Why would I send you flowers?” He asked, looking honestly offended that you would even think it had been him.

“I don’t know. I just thought I’d ask.”

“Look, I apologized for the way I acted,” he explained. “I didn’t send you flowers. That’s sort of crossing a line, don’t you think?”

“No, you’re absolutely right” you replied, now feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

“Maybe they were from your boyfriend. That makes more sense.”

“Yeah, it does…”

“I really am sorry for yesterday. I may have overreacted, but I still understand boundaries. I didn’t send you flowers though. That would be highly unprofessional.”

“Well, thank you for remaining professional,” you replied. “I’m sorry I even thought it was you.”

“It’s okay. An apology note? I can see why you might have thought it was me. But, I promise you, it wasn’t.”

~*~*~*~

“It wasn’t him,” you sighed.

“How do you know that for sure?” Rob asked.

“I guess I don’t. I don’t know. I just- don’t get that vibe from him. He seemed really offended that I even thought it was him.”

“Yeah, well, he seems harmless.”

“You’re right. He’s just a man who takes his job a bit too seriously.”

“You ever stop to consider that it was your ex?”

You had to pause to replay what he had said. That had been a bit unexpected. You had briefly talked to Rob about your ex a long time ago when things weren’t going so well between the two of you, but you had never even spoken of him after that relationship had ended.

“What? You think my ex sent me flowers and a creepy note? No way. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Didn’t you dump him?”

“Regardless of who dumped who, it was a mutual decision. I just happened to be the one to end it.”

Rob made a face, as if to tell you that it wasn’t all that far-fetched.

“Rob, my ex did not send me those. We don’t even talk anymore. And, the breakup was not dramatic or anything.”

“Why did you break up?”

“Excuse me?”

“I just- you never did really say. I guess it’s not my business though.”

“No. It’s not. But, trust me. It was very quick and painless.”

“I don’t know, a guy loses a girl like you… might make him a little crazy,” he said with a soft smile.

“He’s not crazy.”

“Well, I never met the guy, so I guess I’ll just take your word for it.”

“We broke up because our lives just didn’t fit together anymore,” you began. “He sort of hated that I pursued acting. When I got a job on the show, we barely saw each other. I was in Vancouver most of the time and he was in L.A. working. Our relationship became a phone relationship. When I started doing the conventions, it just got worse. We barely talked, didn’t see each other at all.”

“I get it. It’s hard with the life we lead.”

“You remember when we had that conversation at the convention in Chicago?”

He shrugged, indicating that he didn’t remember.

“I was having a hard time. I think I was already considering the fact that I needed to end things with him. You and I talked about this life and how hard it is to be with someone who just doesn’t get it.”

“Oh, yeah, I do remember. You just seemed so sad that weekend.”

“And I was. But, you and I talked and I realized that what I was doing to him wasn’t fair. I knew I had to go home and end things, and I did.”

“You broke up with him because of me?”

“No. I broke up with him because I had to. He wasn’t going to leave. Someone had to.”

“I bet he was pissed.”

“He really wasn’t. He did mention the fact that he had definitely seen pictures of you and I looking a bit close. I think that made him jealous, but he knew nothing was going on. When I told him we had to break up, he didn’t fight me on it. Sure, we were both sad. We had been together for a long time. But, we were also relieved. We knew we weren’t even in a relationship anymore. We were roommates who maybe saw each other occasionally.”

“Okay.”

“What I’m saying is, there’s no reason for him to do the things that you’re suggesting he might have done. After I left, he moved on. He found someone and they’re happy as far as I know. We barely talked after the breakup. And even in the moment that it happened, we weren’t angry with each other. No one cheated, no one did anything to hurt the other, we just… grew apart.”

You paused, biting your lip as you considered if you should continue with your thoughts. Before you could stop yourself, you kept talking.

“I mean, getting to know you… maybe that played a part in everything though.”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I just- you and I just got along so well. We had a lot in common. I loved being around you and I started to feel things for you. Back then, I was really confused. I had a ‘boyfriend’, but I wanted you. I think that conversation that we had pushed me to leave him because a part of me felt like… maybe I had a chance to be with you.”

“So, you did leave him for me?” He grinned.

“Okay, you might have been a factor in that decision,” you laughed. “Although, we continued to go on for a long time with neither of us doing anything about the fact that we were obviously into each other.”

“Look at us,” he said softly as he moved in to hold you, “doing something about it now.”

“And I am very happy,” you smiled. “I’m sure that he is very happy with whoever he has in his life.”

“Alright, so your ex didn’t send you flowers.”

“Nope. It wasn’t him or my handler.”

“Who else could have possibly done it?”

“You sure it wasn’t you?” you teased.

“I don’t have anything to be sorry for,” he replied. “Besides, I only wish I could take credit.”

~*~*~

When you stepped back into the green room later that afternoon, you found Dane taking a break. It was a relief really; to not have him hovering around you like before. At least your talk with him had prompted him to back off a bit.

You glanced around the room, immediately noticing a rather large bouquet of roses placed in the middle on one of the tables. You stared at them, feeling a knot form in your throat. You didn’t want to assume…

“Those are for you,” Dane said, interrupting you from your thoughts. “They’re not from me.”

“Oh?” You whispered, now feeling upset again. “For me?”

“Yup. Delivered just a few minutes ago.”

“Can I ask you something?” You said as you stepped slowly toward the table to inspect the flowers.

“Sure.”

“Who approves the delivery of gifts here?”

“Hotel staff brings them to us and either Creation or the handlers deal with it.”

“And what criteria must they meet for you to think that it’s okay to hand them over to the actors?”

“Um, they’re just flowers,” he replied.

He turned his face up in a scowl, as if he were definitely thinking that you were crazy. To be honest, you felt crazy by how upset these things were making you.

“Right,” you mumbled in return as you grabbed the note attached.

You half expected another apology note; although, considering that the last bouquet wasn’t from your handler, you couldn’t imagine who was sending you apology flowers again.

_‘I will sell my soul for something pure and true. Someone like you.’_

“Are you sure these are for me?” You asked.

“It’s got your name on it.”

You knew that. You could see that clear as day. Right now though, you wanted it to be a mistake.

 _‘They’re just flowers,’_ you thought to yourself.

Still, your stomach was twisting as you stared down at the words scrawled across the card. You recognized those words immediately. You had sung them at the last convention, and now someone was sending them to you. Just the fact that someone had written these words from a song that creepy in its own right, left you feeling uncomfortable.

“Can you please remove these from the room?” You asked, voice cracking as you tried to hold back how scared you were now.

“Really?” He asked in confusion. “You want me to take them to your room?”

“No,” you said quickly. “I want them gone.”

You tore the note in half and tossed the pieces into the trash can.

“Throw them away, burn them, I don’t care. I don’t want to see them.”

“Oh- Okay,” he replied as he hesitantly grabbed a hold of the vase and lifted it from the table. He started to walk away with the flowers, pausing for a moment to look at you.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine. I just don’t really want any more gifts.”

Dance obliged, getting up quickly to retrieve the flowers. He rushed out of the room with them and you stood there, shocked that this had happened again.

“What’s wrong?” Rob said as he approached you.

“Nothing is wrong.”

“Really? Because I just saw your handler rush past me with a shit ton of roses, looking panicked. And I walk in here and you look really upset.”

He pulled you in for an embrace, looking concerned as you tried to play it off that you weren’t upset.

“Just- more flowers.”

“Who the fuck keeps sending you flowers?”

This time, he seemed less annoyed at your reaction to this and more pissed off that someone was sending you roses.

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well, at least it’s just flowers,” he chuckled.

“There was a note…” you added.

“What did it say?” He asked, looking intrigued.

You nodded towards the trash can, prompting him to peek inside before retrieving the torn up card. He straightened himself and held the pieces together, taking a moment to read it.

“What the fuck is this?” He asked.

He looked at you again, this time concern present on his face.

“I don’t know,” you replied.

“Is this a line from the song you did?”

“Yeah, the stalker song.”

“That’s a strange way of greeting someone.”

“Am I really the only one who is freaked out by that?” You asked.

“I mean, I get why you might be freaked out. But you’re probably reading into it too much.”

“Really?” You asked, exasperated that even your own boyfriend didn’t think this was messed up.

“Y/N, everyone loved what you did with that song. Fans were raving about it everywhere. There were videos online, people praising you. Someone was obviously moved by your performance and wanted to send you a gift.”

“Someone was moved by some creepy song, enough to send me flowers and a card with a line from said song written on it,” you pointed out.

“Like I said, not the best way to greet someone.”

“I just- don’t want any more flowers or cards. You might think it’s funny, but I find it inappropriate. I don’t like it. I also don’t appreciate having you treat me as if I’m overreacting about this.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied as he dropped the pieces of the card back into the trash can. “I didn’t say that you were overreacting. I guess I’ve just become numb to stuff like this. It doesn’t bother me because I’m just used to it.”

“Well I’m not used to it. I don’t think I will ever be used to this.”

“Alright. No more gifts. We’ll make sure everyone knows that they aren’t allowed to accept and deliver anything for you.”

“Thank you.”

~*~*~*~

**Back in L.A.**

The remainder of the last con had gone without any other noteworthy events. By the last day, you had relaxed somewhat; not receiving more gifts, and forcing yourself from getting lost in social media. Still, your real plans for that weekend had been ruined. You had wanted to finally be with Rob, but everything that had happened left you not in the mood.

By the time you and Rob returned home, you had all but forgotten the strange events and you were more excited about the fact that you were getting to spend some real time alone with him.

You also realized that this might be a better way to finally take things further with him; while you were home with no worries and no responsibilities.

You had just finished with a date night that consisted of a nice dinner together, drinks, and conversation. You had both been so caught up in talking, it was late by the time you decided to call it a night.

Rob had escorted you to his car and was focused on driving when you finally made your move again.

“Where are you going?” You asked.

“I’m taking you home.”

“Such a gentleman,” you said with a smile.

“I treat my lady right,” he grinned in return.

“What if I don’t want to go home?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“With you,” you breathed out. “I want to be wherever you are going to be.”

“You want to come home with me?” He asked, raising a brow in interest.

“Yes.”

“Are you- are you talking about staying the night?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Uh, no. That’s the opposite of a problem.”

“Good. Then take me home with you.”

By the time you and Rob made it to his place and at the front door, you couldn’t keep your hands off each other.

You had wanted this for so long, and your plans to make this happen had fallen through last weekend. Now, you could focus on him and only him.

He led you to his room, kissing you and slowly stripping you of your clothing as you attend to him as well.

No words were said. Right now it was all about being together. He laid you down, gently topping you as his lips never left yours. You didn’t have to urge him at all with how desperate you were for him in this moment; he seemed to be just as desperate as you were.

Before you could beg him for more, he was already pushing inside of you. You closed your eyes and moaned, smiling as he filled you up.

He made slow and deliberate thrusts inside of you, watching you as you took in the pleasure of having him this way. All you could do was hold onto him, watching him with every movement he made against you. It was perfect.

He brought you to your release after some time of slow lovemaking, his mouth agape as he moaned with you, eyes still watching you as you came undone beneath him. That in itself had been enough to bring him to his release as well.

He collapsed against you, groaning and breathing heavy as he came. You ran your hands through his hair, gasping in sync with him as the two of you came down.

“Oh, fuck,” you breathed out as he rolled off of you.

He laid next to you, placing kisses against your neck, his breathing still heavy.

“I take it I met your expectations.”

“You exceeded my expectations,” you laughed.

“I told you I could keep up.”

“Yeah, not bad for an old guy.”

“Hey!”

“I’m teasing,” you chuckled.

You stopped for a moment, staring into his eyes as the two of you lost yourselves in the moment. He kissed you, this time taking his time as he praised your lips with his.

“You are so fucking amazing,” he whispered.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” you smiled.


	8. Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After convincing herself that she’s reading too much into the events happening, another convention weekend starts off even more concerning. More flowers and strange notes pop up; only this time, Reader is freaked out now that the people around her seem to be concerned.

Your quiet and amazing week with Rob back home didn’t last long enough. Before the two of you could pull yourselves out from your romantic week together, it was already another convention weekend. You were grateful that you at least got to work together. It would be less difficult to get back to work knowing that he would still be there with you.

Almost as quickly as you had forgotten about the things that had been going on during con weekends, you were just as quickly reminded of them when the first day of the Nashville convention started.

There was something about being at work that turned you into a social media maven. You had basically ignored everything during the last week that you spent with Rob, and now you were right back to keeping your face buried in your phone just to see what was going on on your accounts.

Of course, the first things you came across were more of the weird online messages that had creeped you out before. 

You were sitting in the green room, reading through things and asking yourself why anyone would want to devote so much of their time talking about you on the internet. This time, you were talking yourself down though, reminding yourself that you were making a big deal out of nothing. At least, that’s what everyone else here would tell you. They definitely understood fandom more than you did, so you just continued to tell yourself none of it was a big deal.

As you turned off your phone and set it down, you breathed in heavily as the memories of those damn flowers popped up in your mind. Again, they were just flowers. Rob said so himself. It wasn’t anything to be weirded out by. Still, you couldn’t help but be uncomfortable by the thought.

Luckily though, that first day went on without a hitch. There hadn’t been any gifts… your handler seemed to have found his place finally… and you had fun for the first time in a long time at one of these.

~*~*~*~

On day two, it was more of the same. The morning went seamlessly, and you actually found a long break in between some of your events. You took the opportunity to head back to your room for some quiet time alone. Rob was busy anyway, so you wouldn’t be able to spend time with him, and occasionally you just needed alone time.

Although you had pushed the things that had been bothering you out of your mind, of course it would only take this one moment alone to remind you of what had been happening.

The flowers and the messages on social media were enough to have you on edge as it was, the fact that that you had just stepped into your room and noticed a folded up piece of paper on the hotel room floor only helped to amplify your anxiety this weekend.

You hesitated, not even sure if you wanted to know what it was. After a moment of considering, you shook your head and chuckled to yourself. You were being paranoid. This was easily just a piece of paper that you had dropped earlier. It was probably a receipt or something, so you bent down to retrieve it.

You noticed your name written on it and you fumbled with it in your hand before you could bring yourself to open it.

There it was. Yet another message left for you that left you without any indication on who it was from or why they had left it for you.

 _‘I’ll see you soon,’_ was all it said, followed by a sloppy heart drawn on it.

You told yourself that perhaps Rob had slipped it under your door, but you knew better. This wasn’t even his handwriting. Still, you didn’t want to freak yourself out more, so you discarded the note on your dresser, trying to ignore it.

You no longer felt the need to be alone. You hesitated at your door, eyeing the piece of paper for a long time before leaving your room. Maybe it would be best just to keep yourself surrounded by people that you knew today.

When you arrived back at the convention area, Everyone was surprised to see you so soon. Rob, who appeared to be having a short break in between introducing panels, smiled at you; Misha, Kim, Adam, and Dane also noticed you when you arrived.

“Everything okay?” Dane asked as you walked into the room and toss your bag down.

“I’m fine,” you replied. “Just- didn’t want to be alone after all I guess.”

“Oh, okay. Hey, someone left those for you,” he said, pointing to one of the tables.

Your heart dropped when you saw them.

“You sure do get a lot of flowers,” he mumbled.

“I thought I made it clear that I don’t want gifts,” you growled.

“Wow, I didn’t realize that you were at this status.”

You turned quickly to face whoever had said that, coming face to face with Misha who was only staring at you with a scowl.

“Excuse me?”

“The whole, refusing gifts from fans thing… that’s stuck up celebrity status. Not a good look for you.”

“I am not stuck up,” you argued.

“Maybe you should see who they’re from before you go all diva on everyone.”

“No,” you said simply. You felt your face heat up. Not out of embarrassment, but out of fear.

“At least read the card.”

“I don’t want to read the card,” you choked out. “Because I know what is and isn’t there. There’s going to be some creepy message and no name.”

“You just assume…”

“Dude, this has happen a few times already,” Rob said, coming to your defense.

“What do you mean?” Misha asked.

“We did tell people that Y/N didn’t want gifts delivered. We’ve been through this already.”

“Well, this could be from someone she knows…”

“It’s not,” you insisted.

“Don’t you want to know for sure?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll read it,” Rob sighed as he grabbed the card and opened it.

He paused for an uncomfortable amount of time, his eyes scanning the card. You could tell that he was done reading it, but he couldn’t bring himself to react. He looked worried, and angry at the same time.

“What?” you asked.

He glanced up at you with a look that you hadn’t ever seen from him before.

“Y/N…” he breathed out. You noticed that his hand was shaking as he gripped onto the card.

“What is it?” you asked as you reached for the card. You didn’t really want to read it, but you also wanted to know why he was reacting this way.

“Maybe we should call the police,” Rob continued.

As he spoke, your eyes were already scanning the message… _‘You will believe in me. And I will never be ignored.’_

“Again with that damn song,” you muttered.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s just lines from a song,” Rob said. “It’s fucking creepy and no one should be sending you this crap.”

“I know,” you responded, feeling sort of pleased that at least he was now upset by this. “I’m super weirded out by it.”

“It’s not just weird anymore. This feels kind of threatening now.”

You glanced up at him, noting the look in his eyes. Now, he seemed concerned. Now, he seemed to be taking this all seriously.

“It’s not the worst that’s happened…” you began.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want to say anything…”

“Y/N,” he said flatly. “Tell me. What happened?”

“I figured you slipped the note under my door,” you reasoned, hoping that you were right, but knowing that you were just hoping.

“I didn’t- I didn’t leave you a note. Ever. Was there a note in your room?”

“It was on the floor. Looked like someone just put it under the door is all.”

“And? What did it say?”

He sounded almost panicked now, urging you to tell him what you really didn’t want to tell anyone. For some reason, you were telling yourself that everything was fine, no matter how freaked out you were. Maybe everyone had been right all along in telling you that you were overreacting.

_“‘I’ll see you soon.’”_

“Who will see you soon? Who would even write that?”

“Again, no name.”

“Alright, we need to take this to the police,” Rob began, looking frustrated and worried as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“I hardly think that’s necessary,” you argued.

“Someone is being a creep, and it’s not okay.”

“I don’t even know who is doing all of this…”

“Exactly.”

“Rob, this is ridiculous,” you laughed, trying to ease the situation.

You certainly didn’t like all of this and you had been creeped out for some time, but you also didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Everyone said so themselves, it was most likely just a fan who didn’t understand boundaries. Now, you were just upset that Rob was making a big deal out of something that he had insisted for so long wasn’t a big deal.

“Whoever it is, knows where your room is!” He shouted.

Everyone in the room pulled back at his sudden outburst, including you. He looked almost frantic as he tried to reason with you, and now you were upset that he was so upset.

“Maybe it was a mistake…” you whispered.

“This guy- whoever it is, knows where you sleep, Y/N,” he began, a bit more calm now. “I do not feel comfortable knowing that anyone knows where you’re staying. Especially when they’re crossing a line here.”

“I’m no expert,” Adam cut in. “But maybe you should listen to Rob and go to the police.”

“Hey, how about you let me handle this,” Rob spat.

“I’m just trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help. She’s my girlfriend. Let me handle this.”

“Well, okay,” Adam smirked. “Obviously you’re handling it really well. How long has this been going on anyway?”

“A few weeks,” you mumbled in return.

“Oh, well… it’s okay though. Obviously Rob has it under control.”

“Shut up,” Rob growled.

“No. Y/N is terrified right now and you’re just being an asshole.”

“I’m not terrified,” you argued. “Just annoyed.”

“You’re really not freaked out by this?” Rob asked.

“I was…” you explained. “But you all kept telling me that the gifts and messages were all just a part of this job.”

“They are,” Rob began. “They are to an extent. You’ve gotten flowers sent to you twice at the last convention, and again today. Every note gets creepier… but I draw the line at someone putting a note under your door.”

“It was just a note…” you argued.

“Y/N,” Adam added. “Really, I think it’s a good idea to listen to Rob this time.”

“No one one asked you!” Rob shouted.

Adam stared at Rob defiantly, obviously not amused by his continuous outbursts toward him.

“Can you just back off and let me take care of this?”

“You’re upsetting her,” Adam replied, nodding toward you.

Rob looked over at you to see if Adam was right. All you could do was try to pretend that all of this wasn’t upsetting you, but you knew your anxiety was too easy to read. Right now, Adam was right. It wasn’t so much all of the crap that had been going on as it was how panicked Rob seemed to be in this moment.

“I’m not meaning to upset you,” he said softly.

He reached out to you, pulling you in for an embrace when he realized you were, in fact, very upset.

“I’m just- you told me this was nothing…” you said. “And now you’re freaking out over it.”

“I shouldn’t have acted like it was nothing. I’m sorry.”

“You know who’s doing this?” Adam asked.

“You know, for someone who has nothing to do with anything, you sure do seem concerned,” Rob said, annoyed at the way Adam continued to press the issue.

“Of course I’m concerned. Y/N is my friend.”

Rob pulled back from you, letting out an unamused scoff at Adam’s words.

“Is there a problem?” Adam asked, voice raised as he began to get irritated with Rob’s attitude.

“How do we know it’s not you doing all of this?” Rob asked suddenly.

Adam pulled back in shock, staring Rob down as he waited for him to possibly take it back. Rob didn’t though. He just stood there, staring at Adam accusingly.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking.”

“Why would I be doing all of this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re obsessed with her and you’re pissed because she’s mine.”

“Okay,” Adam said calmly as he stood, stepping in front of Rob as if to size him up. “I suggest that you choose your next words very carefully, because I’m damn close to smashing your face in.”

“Rob, stop it,” you cut in, trying to calm the situation.

You put yourself in between the two, feeling your heart race at the possibility that they could be fighting during a time like this.

“I’m just saying…” Rob continued. “It’s a little suspicious that this started happening right after I asked her out. Don’t pretend that you weren’t pissed.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Adam replied.

“Rob!” You shouted. “Stop it!”

You made a point of pushing him back, trying anything you could to ease the tension that had built. Luckily, Rob didn’t argue with you. He did however, continue to stare Adam down as you led him to a separate room to calm him.

Once you were in the adjacent room, you closed the door, leaving the others to recover from the bizarre argument that had broken out. You turned toward Rob, watching him as he tried to calm himself. He was shaking and visibly upset.

“Rob…” you said softly, shaking your head at him in disbelief.

“It could be Adam,” He shrugged.

“Stop it.”

“Think about it, he was going to ask you out but I beat him to it.”

“Oh god, you’re reaching now.”

“Am I?” He asked. “Because this shit started happening the moment you and I started seeing each other. He’s jealous.”

“He’s not jealous. We’re friends. He’s your friend. We laughed about it, Rob. He was only going to ask me out because he liked hanging out with me. He was happy for me that you finally made a move.”

“Well, he is an actor, so…”

“You really think that Adam is doing this?” You sighed. “You think that he’s the one sending me creepy notes?”

“It makes sense. He knows you. He knows where you are all the time, who you’re with. He has easy access to you.”

“So does everyone else working on the circuit,” you reminded him. “Who else are we going to blame, Rob? You think it could also be Rich? He’s really friendly.  Maybe it’s Stephen… he’s awfully quiet all the time. It could be Jensen… maybe he’s jealous because I kissed him once in a scene and now that you and I are together, he can’t stand it…”

“Stop it,” he said, rolling his eyes at you.

“What? You have all these thoughts about people responsible for this, maybe I do too. How do I know it’s not you?”

You bit your lip as you said it, fully aware that you were pushing it and being a jerk. But, he was being a jerk too and you couldn’t stop yourself.

“I mean, you always have a key to my room. We work together. It would be easier for you to leave me flowers and letters than it would be for anyone else.”

“Really?” He asked, offended. “You think I’m sending you these letters? You think I’m the creep?”

“No, I don’t think that,” you sighed, frustrated now by the entire situation and the fact that you and Rob were fighting. “Just like I don’t think that Adam is doing this. Just like I don’t think my ex-boyfriend is doing this.”

“You had no problem blaming your handler though.”

“Okay,” you said as you rolled your eyes at him. “I’m done. I don’t want to do this. I was wrong okay? I blamed someone that I didn’t know because it made sense at the time. He creeped me out, okay?”

“I’m just saying, the poor kid was innocent. Seventy-five percent of the time, the stalker is someone you know well. It just- makes sense considering that this shit only happens when we’re working a convention.”

“And apparently twenty-five percent of the time, it’s someone you don’t know! Are we really talking about stalkers right now? This is ridiculous! I do not have a stalker.”

“Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t make a big deal out of this when it started. But this is definitely stalker behavior.”

“You told me it was just a fan sending me gifts,” you said. You didn’t want to make him feel bad, but you did want to remind him that he had been the one to tell you to not worry about it.

“I know what I said, and I was wrong.”

“I don’t have a stalker,” you reiterated.

“Maybe we need to let the police decide that.”

“I’m not going to the police with this. I just need people to stop delivering this crap to me. I don’t need to see it.”

“I would feel better if we just went to them with the things that have been going on.”

“Rob, think about the jobs we have,” you began, now echoing his own words that he had basically said when all of this started. “We have fans. Sometimes they’re over-enthusiastic. Are you telling me that you’ve never had a fan maybe cross a line just a little bit?”

“No, I’m not saying that…”

“I just- really know that it’s not someone that I know. Please don’t accuse my ex or Adam. I know you want to blame someone, and I do too; but we don’t know who it is. We just don’t.”

“Fine,” he said sternly. “But, we’re going to find out. This needs to stop.”

“No,” you replied firmly. “This is not a thing for the police. All I need is for everyone working here to just know that I don’t want any more of these flowers or notes… I just need for that stuff to stop.”

“He knows where your room is…” he argued.

“No one is threatening me,” you responded. You tried to sound confident, even if you definitely felt that this was all very threatening.

“Y/N…”

“No. Please. Can you just do that for me? Make sure I don’t get any more of this stuff? I’m not taking this to the police, so please stop. No one is stalking me and no one is hurt. It’s just a fan that needs to back off.”

“Y/N…” he tried to argue again.

You had had enough. You held up a hand to cut him off.

“We’re not discussing it anymore.”

~*~*~*~

After you had somewhat alleviated the situation and convinced Rob that now he was overreacting; you sought out Adam to apologize. He had received the brunt of Rob’s unnecessary outburst, and you needed him to know that Rob hadn’t meant any of it and you certainly knew that he wasn’t doing any of this.

The green room was sparse, appearing as if most everyone had left the room after that terrible outburst from Rob. You only saw Adam sitting alone at a table; the table that once held that bouquet of roses that had somehow inexplicably disappeared now.

“Hey, I want to apologize for Rob…” you said as you approached him.

“Don’t do that.”

“He just- I don’t know… you’re not the only one’s he’s blamed.”

“I get it. He has no control over what’s happening. He needs to place the blame somewhere, and I happen to be an easy target.”

“I told him it’s not you. I know he knows that it’s not.”

“I’m not obsessed with you,” he replied with a soft smile. “I like you, yeah. But I promise I would never cross a line.”

“I know that, Adam.”

“Really though, if nothing else, you should at least listen to Rob about the whole, going to the police thing.”

“I just- don’t know if that’s necessary at this point.”

“It’s creepy,” he pointed out. “Might not seem threatening right now, but it’s not okay.”

“I don’t want to draw attention to myself,” you chuckled. “The last thing I want is for people to worry about me.”

“It’s a bit too late for that.”

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled. “Don’t worry about me. Apparently Rob is worried enough for all of us.”

“Is he going to the police?”

“Not if I can help it,” you smiled.

“Really? Y/N…” Adam shook his head at you, looking annoyed that you were ignoring the situation.

“I don’t have a stalker,” you said. At this point, you just kept saying it as if saying it out loud would make it true. Truthfully, you didn’t know what all of this was; and although you definitely felt that you could very well have a stalker, you certainly didn’t want to believe it.

“Well, whatever it is that you don’t or do have… know that you have a lot of people who care about you who won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You’re being dramatic,” you laughed. “You’re all being so dramatic.”

“A note under your door though…” he cringed. “And it’s been going on for weeks?”

“I’m pretty boring,” you chuckled. “No one’s gonna stay obsessed with me for very long.”

He gave you a look as if to challenge you on that thought.

“It’s fine,” you said, trying to convince yourself. “Everything’s fine. This’ll all blow over before you know it.”


	9. Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rob is still uncomfortable with the attention Reader is receiving from her obsessed fan. Reader is just trying to ignore it all, but it’s not so easy when her friends take notice of the things going on. Now, she just wishes they’d go all go back to teasing her for overreacting.

You figured things would die down for the rest of the weekend. In just one day, there had been flowers and a couple of notes left for you. That in itself was unusual, so you assumed whoever it was would back off for the rest of the con.

Rob had insisted that you stay with him in his room that night. He had been extremely watchful of you for the rest of the day and the fact that whoever was doing all of this obviously knew where your room was, was enough to push Rob into sharing in your fears. That was the one thing that he just couldn’t be okay with. That was the one thing that he couldn’t ignore.

You had to admit, him being so suddenly protective was sort of hot.

By the time the day ended, you realized that you hadn’t discussed a song choice for the concert. You had a mere three hours until the show, and you were expected to perform since you had proven yourself that first time and had managed to skip out on the last couple of shows. 

“Are we going with the same song?” Billy asked as he strummed on his guitar in the green room.

“#1 Crush?” Rob asked.

“Yeah, she’s pretty amazing with that one.”

“I think I’d prefer it if she didn’t sing the stalker song tonight,” Rob replied grumpily, offended that Billy had even considered it.

“Oh,” Billy began, his eyes wide as he realized why it was an issue. “I didn’t even think of that…”

“Stop it,” you huffed. “I do not have a stalker.”

“Well, you’ve definitely got a fan who is obsessed with you, so same thing,” Rob argued. “We should switch it up.”

“It’s just a song,” you argued.

“Just a song that someone keeps quoting in their creepy notes to you.”

You couldn’t even argue anymore. He was right. While you didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, he wasn’t wrong about the fact that someone was definitely using your performance of that song to get to you. You hadn’t even mentioned the fan account that kept sharing video of that night with even creepier messages.

“You’re right,” you replied. “Maybe it’s better to not fuel the fire any more.”

“So what are we singing instead?” Billy asked, cutting in to hopefully ease the tension that had obviously built up now.

You thought hard, unsure of what would be a good replacement song for you. You had performed once, and even that hadn’t been so great until the very end. You looked to Rob for reassurance as you usually did. More than anything, you just wanted his approval. Everyone around you would always tell you that you were great, but you knew he would tell you exactly what you would be great at.

That was always your relationship, even as friends. He was honest with you, and you knew he’d have input on this.

“Let’s do a duet,” he said finally.

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not? To be fair, #1 Crush sorta turned into a duet anyway.”

You laughed out loud, recalling the way you had messed that song up and he had saved you.

“I just- I don’t know if I can keep up.”

“Whatever,” he chuckled. “You’re amazing.”

“You have something in mind?” You asked.

“Uh,” he hesitated. “I might have a thought… how would you feel about turning one of our songs into a duet?”

“Really?” you smiled. “You’d let me butcher one of your songs?”

“Stop it,” he laughed in return. “I think ‘ _Cool if I Come Over_ ’ would be really great with both of us.”

“I love that song.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Let’s do it,” you said excitedly.

You spent some time going over the song choice with Rob and the band. You already knew it by heart and it didn’t take long for you and Rob to figure out which verses you’d each sing. Also, you had to admit that the two of you sounded great together. You never really thought of yourself as a singer, but he really brought out the best in you. 

* * *

Later that night, you had been waiting anxiously backstage as the band went through their set. Other singers came and went, each one of them giving amazing performances as usual. All you could do was remind yourself of the last time you had performed and how badly you had messed up. Having already done this once certainly didn’t keep you from being nervous again.

When it was your turn to sing, Rob introduced you to the stage.

“This next performer is super cute and we’re going to sing a Louden Swain song together. Please welcome, Y/N!”

You shook your head, smiling to yourself as you joined him on stage.

You glanced over to him, feeling as if the two of you had this big secret between you, even though you knew people had an idea of what was going on. You hadn’t been exactly secretive at that show you attended, but you did choose to not say much about your relationship up to this point. You sort of felt that tonight was different though.

You certainly were falling for him, hard. Maybe now was a good time to let that be known a bit more publicly.

“This is called ‘ _Cool if I Come Over_ ’,” Rob said.

The band began to play and you steeled yourself. Last time you sang, you were so full of nerves and the only thing that helped was looking over to Rob. Right now, you still had your eyes locked with his, and more importantly you had all of him. He was here to encourage you and make sure you didn’t falter.

This time, you didn’t miss your cue. You began to sing, really singing right to him. When he joined you, your voices blended seamlessly together and the two of you didn’t break eye contact at all until you felt safe enough to do so.

You were on a high as you finished the song. You smiled at Rob, still watching him as he grinned over at you.

Your next action was just spur of the moment, something that you had been doing so effortlessly lately, just not in front of a huge crowd. You walked over to him, grabbed a hold of his shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss; right there in front of everyone.

Maybe it had been the words in the song, or the energy you felt onstage, or perhaps it was simply that you truly adored this man; either way, you didn’t care about being low-key with this anymore. You had fallen for him, and you wanted the world to know it.

* * *

“SNAP?” Briana asked, eyeing both of you.

Rob glanced at you, questioning you with a look.

“I think I’m gonna call it a night,” you replied. “It’s kinda been a long couple of days.”

“I get it,” Briana said. “Go get some rest. I’m sure everything has been really draining mentally.”

“Yeah, I just need a good night’s sleep is all. Tomorrow will be better.”

“Alright, good night you two,” she said with a wink before turning from you and bounding down the hallway.

“You’re not gonna go?” You asked Rob.

“Nah, I already told you I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“So chivalrous,” you smiled. “But really, I’m just going to bed. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s okay, I want to be with you tonight.”

He took your hand in his and the two of you began to walk away from the convention area.

“We should probably stop by your room and get your things so you can stay with me,” he explained.

“You’re serious about that?”

“Very serious,” he replied. “This all has me freaked out. I just- want you with me.”

“I’m not going to argue with that.”

After you had collected your things from your room and settled yourself in Rob’s room, you decided to let him know just how much you appreciated his concern.

“You know,” you began as you watched him change from your spot on the bed. “You being so attentive to me over this whole thing is a real turn on.”

He side-eyed you just before slipping his pajama bottoms on, remaining shirtless as he made his way to you.

“Really?” He asked. “You think it’s hot that you’ve got a stalker and I’m very worried about it.”

“I didn’t say that,” you mumbled as he pulled the covers back and crawled into bed next to you.

“Look, I just want you to be careful. I feel like you should just make sure you’re not alone tomorrow.”

“When am I ever alone?”

“I mean it, Y/N. All of this has gotten really weird, and I don’t like it.”

“Are you just jealous that someone else is trying to steal me away?” You teased. “I mean, you’ve never sent me flowers.”

Rob frowned at you, seemingly put off on your joking over the situation.

“You think this is a joke?” He asked.

“I think that you were right to begin with,” you replied. “It’s just an excited fan and there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I’m sorry I downplayed it in the beginning,” he said. “I really shouldn’t have. I should’ve listened to you when you were freaked out by it.”

“I’m not freaked out by it,” you lied. “Seriously, everyone talked me down. I just feel like you’re all overreacting now.”

“Just- please, don’t be alone at all tomorrow,” he said with pleading eyes.

You melted at the way he looked at you now. Those blue eyes, filled with concern and adoration all at the same time. You loved that he looked at you this way.

“I won’t be,” you promised. “Thank you for not wanting me to be alone tonight as well.”

“Well,” he smirked. “Maybe me offering my bed up to you works out in my favor too.”

“Oh really?” You laughed.

You moved in closer to him, wrapping your arms around him and allowing him to move in closer to you. You sighed as he pulled your body close to his, his lips pressing against yours finally as you focused now on the skin of his bare chest.

You stayed like that for some time; just touching and tasting each other, getting lost in how good it felt to finally be together like this.

* * *

The following morning, you chipperly made your way to the convention area, a handler right at your heels, just as Rob had insisted on. It didn’t matter that you apparently now had a babysitter no matter where you went, you were in an extremely good mood today.

You had spent an amazing night with Rob; and you realized that you were really falling for him. Sure, you had fallen for him a long time ago, but today, you felt different. You were certain that you had almost let the “L” word slip last night, only because you truly felt it; but you held back, not wanting to scare him away since you weren’t sure if the two of you were there yet. You felt it, and you often thought that he felt it too, but you weren’t ready to risk it yet.

You walked into the green room with a kick in your step, smiling and greeting everyone. You had all but forgotten the events of yesterday, and you only wanted to remain in this feeling that you had now.

“Hey,” Briana said when she saw you.

You gave her a smile, happy to see her.

“Hey, Bri,” you grinned. “Isn’t it a great day?”

She eyed you suspiciously and you suddenly remembered yesterday and how uncomfortable everyone had felt over the things that had happened.

“Well,” she began, “it is a beautiful day and I can only assume that you spending the night with Rob went well for both of you. He also seems a bit happy today considering.”

“Look, I’m just trying to not let anything get to me. You all said it yourself, I was overreacting.”

“When was the last time you were on your social media accounts?”

“Oh,” you said, feeling confused as to why she was even asking about this. “I guess it’s been a minute. Actually, I haven’t’ really been on them since my campaign ended. A little bit yesterday maybe…”

“Okay, well, do you have a minute? We should talk.”

“Sure,” you mumbled in return as she led you to the couch. “What’s going on?”

“Um, just some troll on Twitter I think, but you should probably be aware of what’s going on.”

“Bri-“

“I don’t want you to be freaked out, but after yesterday… I’d feel really shitty for not bringing this to your attention and having something happen to you.”

“Woah,” you chuckled nervously. “Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she replied. “I just mean- you’ve definitely got a creeper. I’m not saying they’re going to do anything, but they’re sure not afraid of talking a lot of shit online.”

“What do you mean?” You asked carefully, unsure if you even wanted to know details.

“You should check out this Twitter profile,” she replied as she held her phone out to you.

You took the phone from her, hesitating before finally focusing on it. Immediately, you recognized the handle. This was the same account that had shared the videos of your first SNS performance with the creepy comments.

Now, their timeline was littered with more photos of you and a lot of messages that you weren’t sure if you were reading right at first.

Some of them were the usual, this guy declaring his love for you, which never failed to make you uncomfortable; and then there were the posts that you hadn’t seen before. Whoever this was, seemed sort of angry at times. Angry at you. You scrolled through posts calling you names, posts questioning why you were with a man like Rob, and posts that sounded vaguely threatening.

“What is this guy doing?” You breathed out.

Noticing that you were getting upset, Briana took the phone from you.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But he’s tagging you and Rob in a lot of these, and I haven’t seen you on social media in a while, so I figured I should show you this.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason I’ve been sort of avoiding it. Bri, please tell me that this is all very normal and this stuff happens to you guys all the time…”

“I mean, yeah, we all get messages and stuff,” she shrugged. “Sometimes it’s heavy stuff and it’s hard to take in… but, Y/N, I’ve never had things like this posted about me. Ever. At least not that I’ve been tagged in. I’ve also never received flowers and notes. None of us have. Not like this anyway.”

You almost considered asking her if this was something you should be worried about. After all, deep down, you were scared. You knew that this wasn’t a normal thing. But, you wanted to believe that it was just an overzealous fan who was completely harmless. It was difficult to change your mindset after so long of everyone around you who had been in this business for much longer telling you that you were overreacting. Now, you just wanted to go back to that time when they laughed at you for getting creeped out.

“Huh,” you fake chuckled. “Leave it to me to get the crazy fans. Anyway, uh, thanks for letting me know about all of that… I think.”

“I’ve been reporting the posts and the accounts that I’ve come across,” Briana added. “Just so you know.”

“Neat. There are multiple accounts… that’s great.”

“I told some of the others to keep an eye out as well. I’m sure most of us have seen these… we sometimes get tagged in the really gross posts.”

“Awesome,” you replied, forcing yourself from crying.

You were really trying to play brave, even with everything that she was telling you.

“Look, maybe just keep ignoring all of this,” she began. “I just thought you should at least know what was going on… but, let us handle this from here on out, okay?”

* * *

By now, your small circle of friends had all heard about the things that had been going on. Not only had most of them witnessed the fact that someone was sending you a ridiculous amount of flowers with creepy messages, they were also well aware of the things circulating on social media.

Many of them were working throughout the day going through these messages and making sure they were reporting anything that seemed threatening or odd.

The heaviness of the situation was too much. Even more, the weight of pretending that it was nothing was getting to you. The hard part was having so many people tell you that you were overreacting for so long, that you convinced yourself that you were; and now everything was quite the opposite. You were not an ‘I told you so’ kind of person; and you certainly didn’t want to believe the facts at this point. What you would give to go back to having everyone else believe that it was nothing. You wanted it to be nothing.

You also wondered who could be behind all of this. Between flowers and notes during conventions, and messages online; you wondered if it was one person, or multiple people responsible.

“You know,” Rich began, “with threats like these, you really shouldn’t ignore things.”

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“I just- this is all really odd. I’ve never read things like this about any of us before.”

“Is it all from the same account?”

“Looks like multiple accounts,” he explained. “There are a few different usernames.”

“What do the posts say?”

“There’s a reason we told you to let us look into it.”

“Tell me what they say.”

“I’m not gonna upset you…”

“Rich!” You shouted.

“I don’t even want to read these out loud,” he argued. “I can’t-”

“Let me see,” Rob said as he stepped toward his friend.

He held out his hand for Rich’s phone, causing Rich to hesitate. Whatever it was, he didn’t even want Rob to see it; but he ended up giving in.

You watched as Rob focused on the screen, occasionally scrolling down to read more. You couldn’t read his expression at this point, and you knew that was probably not a good sign.

After a few moments, Rob shook his head in disgust and handed the phone back to Rich. Now, you could definitely read him. He was angry. He was upset. That look in his eyes scared you.

“What?” you asked.

Rob just gave you a look, choosing to ignore your question.

“Cancel her meet and greet,” Rob demanded as he turned toward one of the convention organizers. “Maybe she shouldn’t do autographs either.”

“Excuse me?” You cut in. “You think I’m just going to cancel everything that I have scheduled for the rest of the weekend?”

“I know you don’t want to, Y/N, but it’s for your own safety.”

“No,” you replied. “I’m keeping my schedule the way it is. I’m not going to let everyone down just because some psycho is trying to scare me.”

“Y/N,” Rob breathed out, already looking frustrated, “please, you’re not safe right now.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Nothing has happened to me.”

“He found your room, he left a note for you. He sends you flowers that somehow manage to show up in your room or the green room. This…” he said, pointing to the phone in Rich’s hand, “is threatening. Stop acting like this isn’t something to be concerned about.”

“I don’t even know what any of the messages say,” you argued. “No one will tell me. Do I have to go looking for them on my own?”

“Don’t,” he replied firmly. “Don’t do that.”

“There’s a reason the rest of us are interceding these posts,” Kim added.”You don’t want to see them.”

“Will someone at least give me an idea of what they say?”

No one responded. Everyone hesitated uncomfortably and now you were pissed that no one was letting you in on what they all obviously knew.

“Tell me what they say!” You shouted.

“All you need to know is that someone is not in their right mind,” Rich offered. “Someone seems to be obsessed with you, and they’re taking it too far. Listen to Rob. These are threatening, and you’d be stupid to not go to the police.”

“I’m not going to the police over this…” you scoffed.

“He knows where you’re staying!” Rob shouted. “It’s like, he knows where you are all the time and when you are there.”

“I get that-“

“Do you?” He cut you off. “Do you realize that whoever this is is literally at this convention?”

You felt your heart drop at his words. You knew this was a fan. And yes, you were freaked out by everything. You had just never really stopped to think about this.

“I guess… I didn’t really consider that,” you replied softly, sort of thrown off by the way Rob was shouting and the fact that you never thought of the fact that this person could actually be this close to you without you even knowing.

“Yeah, he’s making it a point to let people know that he’s here,” Rob continued. “He’s going on about how close he gets to be to you this weekend.”

“Nothing has happened to me…”

“Yet,” Rob said simply.

“Please, don’t talk like that…”

“Y/N!” He shouted. By now he looked completely frustrated with you. You didn’t want to argue, but you just wanted everyone else to stop worrying because their worry was scaring you.

“Do you understand that this guy is putting horrible things on the internet about you?”

“I am aware, yes,” you replied.

“Do you understand the fact that you have a fucking stalker?”

Just hearing him say that word again put a knot in your throat.

“I get it, Rob!” You shouted in return. “Look, I understand, okay? But I refuse to let some creep scare me into not doing my job. You don’t have to like it, but you can’t tell me what to do.”

“I’m just- I’m worried about you. We don’t know what this guy is capable of or what he’s doing exactly. Y/N, you’re so vulnerable here. With all these people and the busy schedule… not knowing who is doing this makes you an easy target.”

“He’s right, Y/N,” Briana chimed in. “I only showed the some of the stuff that was tame compared to the really concerning posts. The fact that he is here… “

“He could be right in front of you at any moment and you’d have no idea,” Kim added.

“Okay,” you replied, “He hasn’t hurt me. He’s sending notes and flowers for fucks sake. If anything, he’s an admirer who doesn’t realize that he’s crossed a line. I really don’t feel like this is threatening.”

You were lying through your teeth to Rob, to everyone. Of course you felt frightened, who wouldn’t? But, you really didn’t want for your life to suddenly change like this, so you knew that downplaying it might help to ease Rob’s mind.

It didn’t work, of course. Right now he just looked frustrated with you.

“Fine,” Rob replied simply. “Do whatever. Go do your autographs and have fun at your meet and greet.”

Before you could react, he had stormed out of the room. You glanced apologetically to everyone else who was still standing around. All you were greeted with was their concerned stares. That was the moment you chose to chase after Rob.

Luckily, he had only left the main green room and headed for another. The last thing you wanted was for fans to witness any of this. You caught up to him just as he walked into the room and you closed the door behind the two of you. You were actually sort of grateful to have a moment between just the two of you given how hectic things had been ever since Briana brought up the online stuff earlier.

“Don’t be that way-” you began, referring to how angry he had been over your refusal of cancelling some of your work here.

“I’m just worried, Y/N.”

“I know, but you have to trust me. This is just an overzealous fan. You said so yourself. It’s not going to last and he certainly won’t go any farther than this. I can tell.”

“I’m really not going to win this argument, am I?”

“No,” you smiled. “You’re really not.”

“Will you at least let me make sure you have security with you at all times?”

“I have a handler,” you reminded him.

“No, I mean a real security guard.”

“Ooh, I’m at Jensen and Jared status?” You laughed, hoping to ease the tenseness that had built up.

“Please, Y/N? I would feel better about this. I still don’t feel great about it, but I also understand not wanting to let anyone down because of one asshole who’s acting like a creep.”

“Okay. I’ll do that for you.”

“It’s actually for your own safety.”

“Thank you for worrying about me,” you said softly as you stepped closer to him.

You treaded carefully. He had been so upset by everything, especially your stubbornness, you didn’t want to upset him again. You wrapped your arms around him and pressed yourself against his body, smiling up at him as you did so.

“Uh. You’re welcome?” He replied, confused by the direction all of this had turned to.

“I mean it. I’ve never really had anyone in my life show that much interest in my safety.”

He smiled in return at you and wrapped his arms around you..

“Y/N, I care about you. I’m just- really freaked out by this. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“You really like me, huh?” You grinned as you moved your face closer to his..

You placed a quick kiss to his lips, smiling as he sighed against you.

“I do really like you,” he replied. “A lot.”

“I like you a lot too. I also sort of like when you’re the protective boyfriend. It’s actually really hot.”


	10. Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader gets an unexpected visit from her manager. Unfortunately, he is coming forward with some information that might have been nice to know when it actually started happening. As Reader returns to work, she realizes that this is all a lot more serious than she’d been treating it. She also realizes that she might be a little paranoid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a lot of words for you. Also, the hits just keep on coming, I can’t give poor Reader a break.

Just as you had expected, not much else came from the last day of the convention.

Aside from the unsettling posts on social media, things remained fairly calm. Still, you had done as Rob had asked and allowed him to make sure that you not only had a handler for the day; but some big, scary security guy to follow you around.

It wasn’t so bad when you sat down to do autographs, you hardly noticed he was there at all. In fact, you had almost forgotten about the fact that you had some obsessed fan who happened to be at this convention. It wasn’t until later on when you walked into the room to do photo ops that the realization hit you.

Your assigned security stood close by, and you suddenly felt fearful over the fact that the fan could easily be here in this room right now. You had to go through all of the ops; posing and hugging each person who came through, all while wondering if each of them could be the person behind the gifts and the creepy messages.

Your mood for the remainder of the day changed drastically. You no longer pretended to be cheery, nor did you continue to joke about the situation. You realized Rob was right. Maybe conventions weren’t the safest place to be considering the fact that there was obviously someone out there who now seemed to be upset with you.

As you took a break in green room after your last batch of photo ops, you couldn’t help but let the curiosity get the best of you. Since you were mostly alone, besides your handler and your security, you decided it might be a good idea to know exactly what this guy was posting that had everyone else so worried.

It appeared as if the main account that you were most familiar with had been removed, probably due to so many people reporting the account. However, a quick search for your name pulled up other things that you weren’t exactly expecting.

There were apparently a lot of different accounts; all generic usernames with no profile pictures or any other indication on who was running them. As you scrolled through them, you suddenly wished you hadn’t even bothered to look. At the same time, you couldn’t look away now that you had fallen down this rabbit hole.

Mostly, you were being called names still. You scrolled through the tweets calling you a ‘whore’ and a ‘liar’, unsure of why anyone would have a reason to call you any of that.

The worst of it was that you were being called out on your relationship with Rob, in much more aggressive manners than what you had seen before. Whoever this was, was questioning why you were even with a man like him. He was too old for you, you were only with him because you settled, Rob was using you, and on and on…

Rich had been right. A lot of it was threatening. Just by looking through these messages, you understood now why Rob especially no longer thought of this as harmless. You didn’t want to focus too much on the way this person made it seem as if you were dating Rob just to make them jealous. It was insane. You didn’t even know who was doing all of this, and now you felt as if this person thought that they had claim on you.

You glanced up when you heard someone enter the room. Normally, you would be grinning happily when you saw Rob. Right now though, you were holding your phone in your hand, looking at him as if you were terrified. Truthfully, you were terrified.

“I told you not to read those,” Rob said quietly as he approached you.

You hadn’t been dating for very long, but he still knew you well enough to know that you wouldn’t listen to everyone’s warnings. Besides, he could read your expressions better than anyone.

You didn’t reply; you really couldn’t. You didn’t know what to say in response to all of this, especially the things that were also being thrown out there about him. It was one thing for someone to maybe be a bit territorial with you, but it was even more unsettling that whoever this was, was angry at Rob as well.

“Couldn’t stay away,” you said as he took a seat next to you. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for? This isn’t your fault.”

“I’m sorry that you’re apparently involved now.”

“I’m not worried about me,” he smiled. “Just you. And, I’m sorry for downplaying all of this at first. You were freaked out, and I told you not to be… I should’ve taken your concerns seriously.”

“I still don’t think it’s anything more than just someone being an asshole online. It would be easier if I knew who it was though.”

Rob gave you a forced smile and you knew based on his body language that he definitely had something that he wanted to say.

“What?” You asked.

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you want to.”

“I do,” he replied. “But I also don’t want to upset you.”

“I’ll be upset if you don’t just say it.”

“Y/N, is it really that far-fetched to think that someone you know could be doing this?”

You rolled your eyes at him, still annoyed that he thought someone close to you could be responsible.

“We’ve discussed this…”

“I know we have. But, you’ve also completely shut down the idea that it’s a possibility.”

“That’s because it’s not a possibility, Rob!”

You took a moment to calm yourself as he looked at you in shock. You hadn’t meant to yell, but you were so tired. Tired of him still thinking this, tired of not knowing who was doing this, tired of being afraid.

“Why are you so set on blaming someone I know?” You asked, a bit more calmly now.

“I’m not set on blaming anyone. Just- you need to keep in mind that it is a possibility. Especially with how close this person is getting.”

“Fine,” you replied. “I accept the fact that this could be someone I know. Even though I definitely know it’s not.”

“You’re impossible,” Rob said.

You caught a hint of a smile and you cuddled next to him again to keep the mood light.

“That’s why you like me,” you grinned.

Your week back home was easier. You spent a lot of time with Rob; the two of you going on dates, hanging out, and just spending time together outside of the conventions. It also helped you to forget about all of the other stuff for a while. Even Rob didn’t bring up the things that had gone on, and it was as if the two of you could be together without the worry of knowing that there was a creep within arms reach of you. At home, you felt safe. With Rob, you felt even safer.

It had been a fairly quiet day, just before you were scheduled to head back to Vancouver to be on set. You and Rob had been lazy that morning, lounging on the couch when your doorbell rang. You curiously got up to see who it was, not used to people just showing up out of the blue like this.

You were a bit thrown off to see your manager standing at your door when you answered it.

“What are you doing here?” You asked.

Not once in the history of your relationship with your manager had he ever shown up to your home like this. Just seeing him here unsettled you.

“I did call,” he replied. “And I did text you. You never answered so I thought I’d catch you at home.”

“Is everything okay?”

He let out a sigh, giving you that look as if to tell you that things were not okay.

“We need to talk,” he said simply.

You nodded, still confused as to what was going on; but you stepped aside and let him in.

“So,” he began as you sat at the table and waited. “I’ve heard there have been some… issues going on.”

He sat across from you and carefully placed the folder that he had been carrying down in front of him.

“Issues? Am I in trouble?”

“No. Not at all. I’m talking about the gifts and notes you’ve been receiving,” he replied, “the messages on social media that keep popping up.”

“Who told you about all of that?”

“I’m your manager, I keep tabs on you. I’ve seen some of it, Y/N. Also, people close to you have come to me with their concerns.”

You looked at Rob accusingly, sort of upset that he had gone to behind your back to talk to your manager about this.

“Sorry,” Rob said softly as he averted his gaze from you. “Someone had to say something.”

“I guess at least it’s not the police,” you said sarcastically.

“Not yet,” your manager added.

“It’s not a big deal,” you argued. “It’s just a fan sending me flowers. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“I’m sure you’ve been handling it well enough on your own. But, there’s something you should see.” He placed a hand on the file, hesitating just briefly before sliding it across the table to you. “We; I mean myself and anyone else who works for you, have been holding onto these for a while. It was a ‘just in case’ type of situation. We didn’t think it was anything to worry about at first.”

You began to flip through the file which was made up of a lot of handwritten letters.  Each letter was written by the same person; some were short, some were pages long. You didn’t really take the time to read them, but you had a good idea of what this was all really about.

“How long have you had these?” You asked.

“We started keeping them when the first one came in about six months ago. Mostly because it was odd. We see a lot of interesting things come through, but there was something about that particular letter that didn’t really sit right with anyone. Again, there was no reason to panic. We just held onto it in case. Since then, there’s been a lot more. All from the same person we guess, based on the handwriting and the nature of the letters. They’ve only gotten longer and stranger.”

“You never thought to tell me about this then?”

“We didn’t want you to scare you unnecessarily. It wasn’t anything to worry about at the time. This stuff happens. Fans can get a little territorial.”

“Why are you showing me this now if it’s nothing to worry about?”

“They’ve…” he paused, nodding toward the stack of letters, “they’ve become increasingly hostile recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s probably best not to go into details. In fact, I would suggest not reading any of them at all. But, you have to know that it’s bad enough to where we are now concerned about your safety.”

Despite his insistence that you not read them, you couldn’t help but to scan them now that you realized what this was. You now recognized the handwriting. It was the same sloppy, rushed, scribbling that you had been seeing lately. You held your breath as you flipped through some of the letters; trying not to focus too much on the fact that they were definitely threatening and creepy.

All you were seeing as you skimmed through them was the same stuff you had been reading online and in the notes left for you.

“Months?” You asked.

“Yes. They started right before you got this gig.”

You looked up at Rob, giving him a look of ‘I told you so’ now that you knew for sure there was no way anyone you knew here could be responsible for this. You hadn’t known any of your co-workers long enough for them to be responsible.

“Very recently they’ve become more aggressive.”

“”Exactly when would you say they started to get aggressive?” You asked.

“Within the last few weeks.”

“Alright,” you said, trying to remain calm. “What do I do about this?”

“There’s not a lot that we can do right now,” he said.

“You don’t have a return address from these letters? You’re saying we can’t find this creep that way?”

“There’s never been a return address,” he replied.

“How is that possible?”

“The entire time you’ve been receiving these, they’re never postmarked.”

“So… you’re saying that whoever sent these dropped them directly into the box where I receive fan mail?”

“Yes.”

You closed your eyes and let out a sigh. Now you were frustrated.

“Look, I just knew you had to know about these because of everything else that has been going on. It’s one thing to get letters… it’s quite another to be threatened in addition to letters and gifts. We just feel that this is all connected, and we believe your safety is now an issue.”

“What am I supposed to do about a stalker, when I don’t even know who it is?”

“Like I said, we can’t do much. I am going suggest that we involve the police. Possibly renegotiate your convention contract, since that seems to be when everything happens.”

“No,” you said firmly. “I’m not quitting the conventions because of this.”

“We sort of feel like those are the instances where you are the least safe.”

“I don’t care. I’m not letting this asshole keep me from my work.”

“What about security?” Rob chimed in. He gave you a forced smile, obviously still having a hard time with all of this, but still coming to your defense. “She had security last weekend and things were fine.”

“Yeah, just get me a bodyguard or something.”

“I’m not winning this one, am I?” He asked.

“Trust me,” Rob chuckled. “No one ever wins an argument with her.”

“Fine,” he replied. “Then I’ll handle everything. I’ll find you reliable security…”

“For conventions only,” you reminded him.

“Yes. Convention security. I’ll also communicate with the proper people for when you return to set for work.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Is the location of the set a secret?”

“No.”

“Then if this guy could possibly know where you’re working, I think it’s very necessary to at least let the right people know what’s going on.”

“Fine,” you said. “And that’s it.”

“That’s it for now,” he replied. “Look, if anything else happens… if you get someone showing up at your home… or you get phone calls… any indication that someone knows more about your private life than they should, you tell me immediately.”

You didn’t want to even consider the possibility that this could spill over into your private life, but now you realized that it could certainly happen. For now though, you wanted to ignore that possibility and just focus on being able to go to work without worrying about your safety.

“Of course,” you responded.

Your manager said his goodbyes and  made sure to take the file filled with letters as he left. The last thing anyone wanted was for you to sit around and actually read them. The situation was stressful enough as it was.

“Are you mad at me?” Rob asked carefully after you saw your manager out and had a moment to breathe.

“I’m not mad,” you replied. “I probably should’ve said something to him a while ago.”

“It didn’t help that I told you it was nothing to worry about at first.”

“It’s fine,” you responded.

You turned to look at him, offering him a smile as if to let him know that you weren’t bothered.

“Can we just- go back to enjoying our week together?” You asked.

“You wanna ignore all of that?”

“What I want is to have just a couple more amazing days with my boyfriend before I have to go back to work.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Of course, Y/N.”

You couldn’t be certain, but you couldn’t help but think that Rob seemed disappointed in the way you chose to brush all of this off. You continued to have the feeling that he wanted to talk about it, but that was the last thing you wanted.

“So, I heard that this is all actually quite serious,” Adam began. “They’ve beefed up security on set now that you have a stalker.”

You were sitting on set in between scenes when Adam approached you. You didn’t tell him that he had startled you as he walked up from behind. That was a weird new thing that you had noticed about yourself; you really hated when people didn’t make their presence known right away and you definitely hated being snuck up on.

“Who told you that?” you asked as you tried to make it less noticeable that he had scared you.

“The higher ups,” he replied. “Is this really as serious as they’re making it out to be?”

“I don’t know,” you responded. “My manager thinks so. Apparently he’s acting as if it’s this big thing even though we discussed otherwise.”

“All this over some flowers and online messages?” He asked. “I know we were all concerned… but, this feels like it’s more than just that.”

“I don’t know,” you said. “Maybe it’s the handwritten letters that threaten my life that I’ve been getting for the last few months.”

“What?”

“Just- it’s a long story.”

“That sounds… really serious Y/N.”

“I don’t understand, you know? Why would this guy go on and on about how much he loves me, send me flowers and notes… and then just suddenly call me horrible names online and threaten me like this?”

“I don’t know…”

“Maybe it’s not even the same guy,” you continued. “Maybe it’s a bunch of people who hate me and are just trying to scare me.”

“Or…” Adam hesitated. “Maybe it is one person, and his behavior changed because… well, your life has changed recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. When did all of this start?”

“It’s been going on for months.”

“All of it?”

“Well, no. I guess the aggressiveness of the notes and the online stuff has been going on for a few weeks.”

“Nothing’s happened in those last few weeks that could’ve triggered somebody who’s obsessed with you?”

You thought for a moment, but the realization hit you quickly.

“Rob and I…”

“I mean, this all really started happening when you two started seeing each other.”

“Huh,” you huffed as you thought about this. “Do you think I just have some obsessed fan who got pissed off because I’m no longer single?”

“That probably makes a lot more sense than, say… one of your co-workers stalking you.”

He gave you a playful smile as if to let you know that he was joking, but it was actually a bit upsetting. Rob was still trying to blame all of this on someone that you probably knew; which meant he still thought it could be your ex or Adam.

“I’m still so sorry about that…”

“I’m joking,” he laughed in return.

“You’re right though,” you said. “That makes the most sense. Whoever this guy is never posted or said anything bad about me until I started seeing Rob. Now, I’m just a whore who broke his heart apparently.”

“That’s actually really creepy. This guy has said that?”

“Oh, yeah. There have been lots of names and lots of threats. What I wouldn’t give to go back to the good old days when he thought we were meant to be together.”

“Are you ever going to stop joking about this?”

“Maybe,” you replied. “For now, it sort of helps to laugh a bit.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re allowing people to look out for you at least,” he said as he nodded toward your bodyguard who was standing close by.

“Yes, Liam is not really someone that people want to mess with.”

“He seem like he knows what he’s doing,” Adam shrugged as he studied him.

“Maybe. But, the guy hasn’t said two words to me. It’s a little weird.”

“As long as you feel safe.”

“I feel like I’m being suffocated,” you admitted. “I really hate all of this.”

“I know,” Adam replied. “But, it needs to be done. Just you wait, eventually this will all blow over and you’ll have your freedom back.”

“Hopefully soon,” you chuckled.

You got back to your apartment late that night after a long day of filming. Still, you made a point of calling Rob. You called him every night while you were away. It didn’t matter the time, he always answered.

There was something about just listening to his voice that made it easier to be at your home away from home alone. Each night, when you got home, you were anxious and now had the tendency to work yourself up as you considered all of the possibilities. It wasn’t until you had him on the phone that you’d shut that paranoia off and you could actually feel happy for a moment.

“Hey,” you smiled when you heard his voice on the other end.

“Hey honey,” he replied. “How’s work?”

“It’s good. I miss you though.”

“I miss you too. So much. Are things okay?”

“Based on the way they’ve added security on set, I’d say everything is fine.”

“You know it’s necessary.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just a bit embarrassing.”

“There’s nothing embarrassing about making sure you’re safe, Y/N.”

“I know… I just hate all the attention.”

“Well, look on the bright side. You’ve only got a few more days on set, and then we’ll meet up in Chicago-“

“For more work,” you laughed. “But at least I’ll be with you.”

“And, you’ve got a birthday this weekend.”

“You remembered,” you smiled.

“How could I forget?” He chuckled in return.

“Well, I can’t wait to spend it with you, if we have time.”

“We’ll make time,” he replied. “I’ll always make time for you.”

“I actually called to run something by you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Adam and I were talking… and guess what? He’s still not my stalker.”

“Haha, I get it,” he said sarcastically. “Look, I’ll apologize to him this weekend, okay?”

“Thank you. Anyway, we were talking and he sorta brought up a good point… he mentioned how all of this craziness really started after you and I started seeing each other.”

You paused, waiting for him to respond, but he was silent on the other end of the call.

“I mean, yeah the letters and stuff started a long time ago,” you continued. “But, the flowers and creepy messages started recently.”

“I know, Y/N,” he said softly.

“You noticed that.”

“It’s all I think about,” he sighed. “Honestly, I noticed the timeline of everything right away.”

“Oh.”

“I can’t help but feel as if all of this is my fault, you know?”

You could hear the sadness in his voice and that made your heart ache. You didn’t want him to blame himself. This wasn’t his fault at all.

“I sort of feel like this guy got angry with you because of me.”

“Rob…”

“Now he’s threatening you…”

“It’s not your fault,” you promised him.

“I just- don’t want to lose you because of what this guy is doing.”

“You won’t. I want to be with you. You make me so happy. You make me feel safe.”

“I’m doing what I can to protect you.”

“I know. I appreciate it.”

“What about on set? Do you feel safe there?”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “It’s pretty much on lockdown here. No one gets in and no one gets out.”

“I don’t know if that sounds like a good thing.”

“It’s fine. Plus, I’ve got a bunch of really big guys that I work with who have caught wind of what’s been going on. I think I’ll be okay.”

“I’m also wondering if you’ve decided to stop treating this all like a joke.”

“Oh, you mean, did I stop pretending everything was fine because everyone told me everything was fine?”

“I know we should’ve listened to you, Y/N. We all should have taken you seriously when you were freaked out.”

“Yes,” you answered. “I’ve stopped treating this as a joke. Mostly. I am actually really kind of scared. Those letters… those posts…”

“You’re not reading them still, are you?”

“I think I’ve given up on social media for the time being.”

“Good. You don’t need to see that crap.”

“I’m avoiding it.”

“God, I’m so worried about you,” he sighed. “Maybe I should just fly up to be with you while you’re there.”

“That’s not necessary. You’re working on the album. Besides, just a couple more days, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Also, Rich is directing, so I have him hanging around, reminding me that I have a stalker.”

“Not funny.”

“Hey, gotta find find some humor in the situation.”

After a long, tiring morning of filming, you returned to your trailer for a short break. Your assigned bodyguard, Liam, had been hanging around all day and he followed you as you stopped at your trailer and unlocked the door.

“Give me a few minutes?” You asked him.

At this point, you wanted just a moment alone. It was a strange thing to have someone follow you around all day. You weren’t used to this at all. The lack of privacy and alone time wasn’t even this big of an issue when you had handlers trailing behind you at conventions.

He nodded hesitantly, but stayed put in his spot just outside as you opened the door and walked into your only quiet space. You made a point of closing the door firmly behind you as you let out a breath and smiled now that you had just a moment to yourself.

When you turned toward the small space, the first thing you noticed were the flowers.

Your breath caught as you stared at them. You felt that familiar sense of fear that you had pushed down for so long start to build again. You made no movement toward them at first, you just studied them from afar. At this point, your mind was racing with thoughts.

You froze in place, even though you wanted so desperately to not be here anymore. The value that you had placed on alone time was suddenly not important anymore. Now, you wished that Liam had actually followed you in here; at least then you’d know that there would be someone who would protect you, even if it was just because he was paid to do so. You glanced around the tiny trailer, wondering for just a moment if the person behind all of this was here.

How had he found you at work? How did he even get on set? Did he actually get on set, or did someone else do this? You remembered that your trailer had definitely been locked all day, and there was only one other person on set who had a key to it.

You told yourself that there was no way anyone was actually here. This place was too small, you’d notice right away if someone was waiting for you as there were no places for anyone to hide. Although you had talked yourself down from that panic, you were still upset over the fact that you were still getting flowers. For just a moment, the fear washed away, and now you were just angry. You were angry that this person knew when you were on set and that they had either sent flowers here of actually left them in your trailer themself. You knew it was more rational to believe that your assistant had intercepted the delivery and left them here, but in this moment, you were anything but rational.

You finally stepped toward the flowers, only to grab the card that was included and you exited your trailer, holding back tears and anger as you gripped onto the card.

“Miss,” your bodyguard started. “Is everything okay?”

He looked behind you, trying to peek inside the trailer, but there was nothing there that concerned him.

“I need to find my assistant,” you explained.

When you did find her, you didn’t hold back. It only made sense that she had either let someone into your trailer, or put the flowers there herself. The fact that she was going against everything that had been discussed with the rest of crew upset you. Even your co-stars understood protocol.

“What are you doing?” You asked her as you angrily grabbed a hold of her arm to turn her so that she could face you.

“Uh- uh, I-“ She stuttered, looking completely caught-off-guard as you confronted her.

“There are flowers in my trailer.”

“Yes,” she replied, giving you a quizzical look. “I know. I put them there.”

“Did you let someone into my trailer?!” You shouted.

“No,” she replied quickly. “I told you, I’m the one who put them there. They were delivered, so I brought them to your trailer.”

“I thought I made it clear that I didn’t want gifts… anything delivered to me. This was discussed already!”

“Y/N, calm down,” Rich warned as he took a step toward you.

You were seething at this point, mostly because you were so afraid.

“How can I be calm Rich?! People are supposed to be looking out for me, and I can’t trust anyone.”

“I- I didn’t know-” she stuttered in return. “I thought that since they were from Rob, it was okay.”

“What?” You asked as you turned to look at her.

“Did you even read the card?” Rich asked.

“Why would I read the card?” You spat. “Every time I read the damn cards, I’m terrified, Rich. They just keep getting worse.”

“They’re from Rob,” she cut in. “He told me he was sending them over and to make sure you got them.”

“Open it,” Rich urged as he motioned toward the envelope that you now had crumpled up in your hand.

You shakily did as he asked, still not fully convinced that he was right. Even though your assistant was certain these were from Rob and it sounded as if he had pre-planned this with her, you couldn’t help but still feel as if you were just going to be upset by what was in this card. It was terrifying just thinking about what could be written here, even if you were being told that it wasn’t what you were thinking it was.

There, on the now wrinkled card, was a message scrawled in Rob’s handwriting.

“Happy early birthday. I miss you. -Rob”

You felt your heart sink first as you realized that they were definitely from him. Next, you felt ashamed as you replayed the way you had blown up on your assistant for no reason at all. Still shaking, you put the card in your pocket and excused yourself as you began to cry.

“Y/N…” Rich called out to you, trying to stop you.

You didn’t stop though. You began to sob as you walked quickly away from that entire humiliating outburst.

You had been terrified, truly terrified, for the first time through all of this. Everything else before this had been nothing compared to what you were feeling right now. For a brief moment, you really thought that whoever it was that had been doing all of this had actually found you. You actually thought that he had been in your trailer, waiting for you. Even though he had been in close proximity to you at the last convention, you hadn’t been as freaked out as you were in this moment.

Why hadn’t you calmly asked where the flowers came from? Why did you just assume, especially since security was so tight around here? Why didn’t you just read the card before you berated your assistant?

You didn’t want to admit it out loud, but this was also the moment that you realized you were completely paranoid about the entire thing.


	11. Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rob can’t seem to make the right choices when it comes to Reader’s birthday. Despite yet another almost failed attempt at making her birthday special, Rob does end up redeeming himself.

Word of the events on set had spread, and you had people checking in on you a lot. You knew they were just expressing their concerns, worried because of how terrified you were about all of this. You were just embarrassed at this point.

And scared? Yes, you were very afraid. Even after you left set after the whole ‘flowers from Rob thing’ the fear didn’t leave you. As your bodyguard saw you to your door and said goodnight, you realized then that you were terribly alone and very vulnerable.

Unlike most nights after you got back to your apartment, you didn’t call Rob that night. Hearing his voice would have been comforting usually, but you honestly couldn’t decide if you were mad at him or not.

After the initial shock of what had happened wore off, you wondered why he had even thought to send you flowers in the first place. Normally, it would have been a thoughtful gesture, and you often joked with him about how he had never sent you flowers; now, you just assumed that a gesture like that wasn’t even a thought in his mind after everything.

You didn’t want to worry him, and you had seen the missed calls when you actually took your phone out of your bag once you walked through the door. Still, you didn’t know if you could hold it together if you had him on the phone. So, you settled for a text message. It would be quick and would give no indication about how you were really feeling.

_Y/N: Late night on set. I’m wiped. I miss you._

You didn’t even have time to take off your jacket when he responded.

_Rob: Y/N, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Please call me._

You frowned, knowing that Rich probably said something to him. You certainly hadn’t. You didn’t even so much as send him a ‘thank you’ message after the whole debacle.

_Y/N: It’s fine. Just a misunderstanding. I’m fine._

_Rob: You really won’t call me?_

_Y/N: I’m just really tired. Heading to bed now. TTYL._

You had been uncharacteristically short with him, and you didn’t like that you wanted to keep tonight’s communication so impersonal. But, you were actually exhausted. Everything had drained you today, and the last thing you wanted was to hear his voice knowing that he was probably really upset about his actions. You hated that he blamed himself for a lot of this, and you just couldn’t handle him feeling guilty over his lack of thinking when he sent you the flowers.

_Rob: Are we okay?_

_Y/N: Of course. I really miss you. I can’t wait to see you in a couple of days. Also, the gesture was nice. I’m sorry I overreacted._

You added a heart emoji at the end for good measure and tossed your phone onto the nightstand before getting ready for bed.

The last message you received from Rob was him saying that he was sorry again and that he missed you too. You left him on read, not wanting to keep the conversation going tonight. All you wanted was to sleep and forget about today.

Sleep was far and few in between though. You tossed and turned, replaying everything in your mind. You were still embarrassed over the way you reacted, or rather, overreacted. You were upset that Rich had probably called his friend and told him all about what a nutcase you were. You were still feeling suffocated just knowing that tomorrow would be yet another day where you couldn’t go anywhere or even breathe alone. Mostly, you were thinking.

You thought about what you could have done to have gotten yourself into this situation. Was Rob right? Was all of this being done by someone you might know? The scarier thought was that you were certain it wasn’t. You felt that this was a stranger, a stranger who knew a lot about you and spent his time writing to you and judging you. You thought about the horrible things in those letters, the names you were being called on social media, the frantically typed tweets that not only attacked you, but Rob as well. You thought about the flowers; the ungodly amount of flowers that you had received and how even the thought of flowers now made your skin crawl. You thought a lot about how insensitive Rob had been even though he hadn’t meant to be.

You let out a frustrated sigh, burying your face in your pillow as you finally gave up on the notion of sleep. It wasn’t going to happen tonight. Not now since you were thinking about how terrified you had been when you considered the possibility that this weirdo could have been in your trailer.

At no point through any of this had you ever worried about the possibility of someone showing up at your home, but that brief moment of wondering as you stood in your trailer made you realize otherwise. After all, someone had found your hotel room before and left you a note, who’s to say they couldn’t find you back in L.A. or even here in Vancouver?

Still, there had been no indication that whoever it was knew where you were staying outside of the conventions. Even as you laid in bed tonight in your little apartment in Canada, restless and nervous, you knew you were only working yourself up over nothing. That didn’t stop you from being afraid though.

You drifted off to sleep finally at some point late that night. Or early the next morning… you couldn’t be sure. All you knew was that you were suddenly being pulled from your restless sleep to the sound of your phone ringing. You blindly reached for your phone, answering it before taking time to do much else.

“Hello,” you grumbled when you picked up.

You assumed it was Rob calling, probably still upset that you hadn’t called him right after work. However, you were greeted by silence.

“Hello? Rob, is that you?” You said again, still waiting for some sort of reply.

When you you didn’t get one, you pulled your phone away from your ear to look at the screen. You had unexpectedly answered a call from an unknown number; something that you never did, and this was the type of call you rarely got since you never gave out your number.

Whoever had called was still on the line as you then focused on the time. It was nearly 3 am. No way anyone you knew would call you at this time, especially not Rob.

“Who is this?” You asked, trying to get something out of whoever was on the line as you returned to the call.

At this point, you didn’t know if anyone was even there. Still, you felt a shiver run down your back at the strangeness of the phone call. Rather than upset yourself by trying to encourage something from the caller, you ended the call; turning your phone on silent before tossing it aside again. You grumpily curled up under your blankets before closing your eyes again, hoping that sleep would find you for just a little while longer.

* * *

The next day, you had to force yourself from bed. You weren’t sure how much sleep you had actually gotten, but you knew it wasn’t enough. You were already running late, so you quickly showered and got dressed; only grabbing your things just before you left your apartment to head to set.

Once you had arrived, you trudged to hair and makeup where the crew was quick to point out how terrible you looked. You didn’t even argue or feel bad about it. You knew you had to look as bad as you felt right now.

As someone got to work on your hair, you took the time to check your phone. The first thing you noticed were the missed calls. You looked through your call history, assuming that Rob had called and you just hadn’t heard your phone since it was still on silent. Instead, you saw that you had a few missed calls from an unknown number. All of them had happened ridiculously early in the morning while you had been asleep. In that moment, you got a little nervous. You recalled answering one of those calls that had pulled you from your sleep, only to be greeted by nothing on the other end of the call.

Now, you were seeing that they had called multiple times within minutes of each other. You immediately decided that you couldn’t overreact to this. They had been random calls, probably accidental or something. Getting phone calls from unknown callers wasn’t something to get freaked out about. This stuff happened to people all the time.

You deleted your call history and turned to a text message that you had received instead.

You had to smile when you saw Rob’s name, followed by a very sweet good morning text.

Instead of texting back, you decided that you were ready to call him. Yes, you had been upset with him, but you still adored him and really needed to hear his voice right now.

When you found his number and pressed call, you waited for him to answer.

“Y/N!” Rob’s voice said excitedly when he picked up. “I thought you’d never call me. I thought I was in trouble.”

“You’re not in trouble,” you chuckled. “I just had a rough day and I really was tired last night.”

“I’m so sorry,” he replied. “I don’t know what I was thinking sending you those. As soon as Rich called me and told me about that… I knew I fucked up.”

“It’s okay. I just- maybe I am a little freaked out over everything that’s been happening. I should’ve just read the card first.”

“No, I shouldn’t have done that. Especially with everything that’s been going on.”

“I’m fine,” you said. “Really. I just needed to process everything. I’m not mad at you. The flowers really are beautiful.”

“I should be able to send my girlfriend flowers without scaring her,” Rob said softly.

You could hear him shuffling about in the background of the call and you decided to ignore the conversation at hand.

“What are you doing?” You asked.

“I am on my way out,” he replied. “Heading to the studio.”

“How’s it going?” You asked, referring to the fact that the guys were recording.

“It’s good. We’re getting a lot done, probably because I don’t have you around to distract me.”

“Ouch.”

“Really though,” he laughed. “I miss you. But, I’ve been working all day, every day while you’ve been gone. Trying to keep myself busy I guess.”

“I miss you too,” you smiled. “Just one more day and we see each other again.”

“Just one more day and someone has a birthday,” he reminded you.

“Maybe we can avoid bringing up the fact that I’m getting older.”

“Hey, you kept reminding me about my birthday, it’s your turn.”

“I’m just glad my birthday is on the day before the actual convention starts,” you began. “I just want to spend it with you.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “What are you thinking? Dinner? Date Night? Maybe we could all get together for a night out… or maybe just a night in bed with room service?”

“Honestly, I’d really love just a night in with you right now.”

“I can handle that.”

“So please; no party, no night out… just you and me.”

“Alright,” he replied. “So then I should probably cancel the real plans I made?”

“Really?” You asked. “Did you really make plans?”

“I’m kidding,” he chuckled.

Just as Rob finished his thought, you were being instructed to head to wardrobe.

“Look, I gotta go,” you said. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright, Y/N. See you soon.”

**Chicago Convention**

Day one of the convention would be your birthday, but you honestly didn’t feel like celebrating.

You had arrived in Chicago alone. Rob and some of the others were already there by now, but they were always put to work rather early, so you were left to your own devices as you journeyed from the airport to the hotel.

You checked in at the front desk, wishing that Rob was with you, but also grateful that he had arranged to have the two of you just share a room this weekend. It made sense really. It’s not like you ever stayed in your own room lately now that you were together, and it wasn’t like you were going to have privacy anyway with a protective boyfriend.

Rob had called you when you let him know that you had landed. He had already checked into the room and said that he had left a key at the front desk for you. He wanted to make sure that you were good to go, and insisted that you just head up to the room. You were slightly bummed that he was so busy, but he did promise you a night in of cuddling and room service once he was done.

Honestly, that was all you had been really looking forward to all week. Just spending time alone with him.

Since you had literally just arrived in Chicago and the convention wouldn’t start until tomorrow, there hadn’t been any type of security guard or anything waiting for you when you got in. While you could complain all day about how annoying it was to have someone follow you around, you sort of wished it had been arranged for you now.

You made your way to the right floor and down the long, empty hallway until you found the room.

You paused at the door, feeling a sudden sense of anxiety come over you. If anything, you should have felt safer now that you had arrived at what would be a safe place. Maybe it was the impending darkness of night and the fact that you were here alone until Rob was able to meet you; or maybe it was the memory of how scared you had felt over the incident previously; but you couldn’t shake the nervousness as it built up.

 _‘It’s just a hotel room,’_ you told yourself. _‘No one is here. You’re alone, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Rob will be here soon.’_

You slowly put the keycard in the slot and turned the handle, opening the door to be greeted at first by darkness.

You reached against the wall, fumbling to find the light switch. You knew to expect nothing; just an empty hotel room probably containing Rob’s luggage. That was what you kept telling yourself as you tried to find the switch.

 _‘I’m alone, and that’s okay,’_ you thought to yourself.

When you finally found the switch, you flipped it on and peered into the room.

“Surprise!”

You heard numerous voices shout at you. Just the fact that you obviously weren’t alone startled you; but it was the sudden appearance of people, stepping out from around corners, popping up from behind furniture; that made your heart race.

Your felt your face heat up, skin tingling as you realized that your breathing had picked up. You froze completely, fear taking over as you tried to process what was happening. Your fight-or-flight response activated and you considered turning around to run, but you began to take in the surroundings before you made that split-decision. Slowly, you began to recognize faces.

There was Rob, standing directly in front of you, giving you that big smile that you adored so much. That was the first thing you saw, and it was the only thing that held you in place as you felt panic rise up in your body. You glanced around quickly, noticing all your friends… all familiar faces. You took in the room next.

This was a surprise party. You could tell by the birthday decorations, the array of food set out, the rather large birthday cake on the table. It all made sense now.

Still, no matter how hard you tried to calm yourself now that you understood that you were okay, the panic continued to build.

“Y/N,” Rob began. The concern in his voice forced you to look at him. Then you saw the concern in his eyes as he moved toward you. “Are you okay?”

He reached out, grasping onto your arms as he looked at you, urging you to let him know that you were perfectly fine.

You opened your mouth, trying to form words… any words to let him know it was okay.

Instead, you felt yourself break. You began to sob, feeling your heart race as you were no longer able to hold back.

“Shit,” he muttered as he immediately attempted to hold you.

In an instant, you pushed past him, aware of the fact that you were losing it in front of everyone. All you wanted to do was remove yourself from view. He let you move, watching you as you shakily rushed past everyone.

Once you made it to the bathroom, you closed the door behind you and continued to sob. You tried to steady your breathing, tried to ignore the dizziness you were feeling; but you couldn’t stop crying no matter how much you wanted to.

You could hear the faint sound of knocking on the door and Rob’s voice asking you to let him in. He sounded so worried, and you didn’t want to worry him, so you fumbled for the doorknob until you finally unlocked it for him.

He rushed right in, closing the door behind him before attending to you. You had already returned to your spot on the floor, knowing that you couldn’t stand anymore. You were still crying and now just frustrated with yourself that you couldn’t stop.

Rob immediately joined you, kneeling down in front of you and pulling you in to his body. That in itself was sort of calming. Just having him here holding you was comforting.

“Shh,” he cooed as he pulled back to look at you. “You’re gonna be okay.”

You continued to cry, slowing down just a bit as he grabbed your hands and pulled them up to his face. He held you there, encouraging you to touch him and look him in the eyes.

“You’re okay. I’m right here. Breathe for me.”

You tried to focus on touching him, feeling the rough hairs of his beard beneath your fingertips. You locked eyes with him, listening to his calming voice as you began to breathe your way through the panic attack.

He continued to talk to you soothingly, although you couldn’t quite comprehend most of what he said. Regardless, it helped. After a few minutes, you felt your heart rate slow down, you stopped crying, and the dizziness began to subside.

“Look at that,” he smiled as you continued to hold his face in your hands. “You’re good baby. I’m right here.”

Once you were finally past it, you let out a stuttered sigh. You wrapped your arms around him and pulled him in so that you could rest your head against him. He held you tight, understanding that you just needed him right now.

When you had calmed down just enough to let everything process finally, you began to pull yourself together, knowing that you still had to go out and face everyone who had showed up for your apparent surprise party. You didn’t know if you could, but you knew you had to try. Maybe no one had realized what had happened to you. Maybe they all just thought you had been so surprised that you had to run off to cry happy tears alone. That was far-fetched and you knew deep down that literally all of your friends had just witnessed you having a panic attack over this. Still, you had to face it. You had to face them as bravely as you could. After all, you were still playing off this entire situation as if it weren’t that serious and you really didn’t want to give them a reason to believe it was that serious.

“I’m so sorry,” Rob mumbled as he helped you up from the floor. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s not your fault,” you said with a forced laugh as you wiped tears from your face. ”A surprise party isn’t supposed to give me a panic attack.”

“I should have known. I’m fucking everything up. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay now. I was already making myself anxious when I showed up here knowing I’d be alone.”

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have done this.”

“Rob,” you said softly as you cupped his face in your hands again. “I’m okay. I’m sorry I did that. I don’t know why I did that.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. It’s my fault for convincing everyone to jump out at you when you thought you were supposed to be alone. I’m the worst boyfriend.”

“You absolutely are not,” you said firmly. “You’re the best. Do you know how many people in my life have ever cared enough to organize a surprise party for me? One.”

“I thought it would be a fun gesture,” he said. “I just didn’t think it through. Just like I didn’t think the whole flower thing through.”

“Still, I love that you even think of doing these things for me. It’s not your fault that you’ve got a girlfriend who happens to have a creep bugging her.”

“I’ll be better,” he promised. “I’ll actually stop to think about what I’m doing. I never meant to scare you, in any way.”

“I know.”

He let out a sigh, seemingly relaxed now that he could see that you weren’t angry with him. Any bit of anger that you might have had about the whole flower thing had quickly washed away by this point. In fact, you weren’t even mad about this whole thing. Instead, you felt really grateful that you had someone who cared about you enough to even think of doing these types of things for you. Rob was sweet and thoughtful, but perhaps he just wasn’t completely understanding of how he should handle your unique situation.

You realized just now, as he looked guilty and worried, how much you really did love him. Sure, he had organized the entire surprise that had ultimately sent you into a panic attack, but at least he was here to get you through it. After all, the fear and anxiety you were feeling lately, wasn’t his fault. You couldn’t expect him to know how to handle things when even you weren’t sure how to handle anything either.

You moved to press your body against his, craving the comfort that you felt just by being close to him. He embraced you, holding you tight as you relaxed against him. All you needed was a moment like this with him. When you thought that you were okay enough to finally leave the bathroom and possibly partake in your party, you pulled away from him and offered him a smile before kissing him softly on the lips.

“You want me to make everyone leave?” He asked as you focused on splashing water on your face.

“What?” You asked. “No! No way. You planned this party for me and I intend to partake.”

“Really?” He smiled. “You sure you’re up for it?”

“I just had a panic attack in front of everyone,” you explained as you dried your face off. “I freaked out this week over flowers that were sent by my boyfriend. It’s been rough. I need a lot of drinks, time with my friends, and you.”

You reached over and grasped onto his hand, giving it a squeeze just to let him know that it was fine.

Everyone seemed to know better than to bring up your display of anxiety when you finally decided to face them. Once you had cooled down and made yourself look a bit more presentable, you emerged from the bathroom with Rob, smile plastered on your face as you greeted your friends properly.

No one said anything and no one made a big deal out of it. They smiled in return, probably relieved to see you not in the middle of a panic attack, as you took time to thank and hug each of them.

As the party went on, you found yourself relaxing a bit. Although this hadn’t been what you had expected or really wanted for your birthday, the gesture was nice. You also realized that you were having a good time actually hanging out with friends again. Everyone was having fun, and it helped that no one brought up your panic attack or even discussed the things that had been going on.

It was as if everyone knew that you just wanted to ignore it for a while, and they were all set on making sure that you just had a good time tonight. Drinks were flowing, everyone was laughing, and your world felt safe and comfortable for a moment.

That is, until you excused yourself from a conversation with the girls so that you could use the restroom. After you had washed up and made the movement to leave the bathroom, you could hear Rob and Rich talking just outside the door.

You paused when you heard your name mentioned, Rich just asking Rob if you were really okay. You knew you shouldn’t listen in on their conversation, but it was about you, so you figured it was okay.

“That was interesting,” you heard Rich say.

“I’m such an idiot,” Rob berated himself. “All she does is worry about where she is and who else could be there. She’s always so anxious, even if she denies that she is, and I should have known better than to throw a fucking surprise party.”

“You were just trying to do something nice.”

“I told her to meet me at my room,” he argued. “She was under the impression that she’d be alone until I got here later. Can you imagine? Showing up somewhere, knowing that you have some freak following you, and just having people jump out at you when you’re supposed to be alone?”

“None of us thought about it either, Rob.”

“I just- feel so bad. She’s scared, I know she is. We all kept pretending it was nothing to worry about… just another enthusiastic fan. But, she’s got someone sending her fucked up messages, sending her gifts… god, I can’t believe I sent her flowers… you should have seen the stuff her manager showed her.”

“How long has this been going on exactly?”

“Months. They’ve been holding onto letters he’s sent her. They started out as just any other fan letter, and they’ve gotten scary. Enough to where they finally showed her.”

“Shit,” Rich muttered. “Is that all it’s been though? Letters, social media comments?”

“As far as we know. Then there’s the weird way that he sends her flowers. Yet another thing that I messed up.”

“Ah, I’m aware of how well she receives flowers.”

“I can’t even send my girlfriend flowers because it freaks her out.”

“All I can say is… as long as this guy is keeping his distance, there’s nothing to worry about I think. Letters and flower deliveries are one thing… I mean, the social media stuff was concerning, but at least it’s only online and easy to avoid.”

“You didn’t see those letters,” Rob reminded him.

That was your cue to leave the bathroom. You opened the door quickly, acting surprised to see the two men standing there when you did.

They looked at each other and you just smiled at them.

“Rob,” you began, attempting to cut in before he could say much more. It was bad enough that everyone had witnessed your freak out and they were aware somewhat of the things going on, you really didn’t need them to know about the threats you had been receiving. “Can I see you for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said anxiously before excusing himself from Rich.

You grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward a less crowded part of the room so that you could talk to him privately.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you replied. “I just- I wanted to ask you to maybe not tell everyone details on what’s going on.”

“Oh. You heard me talking to Rich…”

“I did.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been talking about you and all of this like that. It’s not my place.”

“It’s fine. I’m not mad.”

“He was just worried, and I feel like no one knows how serious this has all gotten.”

“You’re right,” you replied. “No one really knows everything, especially about those letters. But, I’d kinda like to keep it that way.”

“Really? You don’t think it might be good for your friends to know how serious it all really is?”

“I mean, they know,” you argued. “They’ve seen the stuff online and most have seen how often I get unwanted gifts. They don’t need to know about the really… concerning stuff.”

“I kinda feel like, since you’re always around them, and this stuff happens at conventions, that maybe they should know how serious it really is.”

“No. I just- I don’t want anyone to treat me differently. I don’t want sympathy or for anyone to worry. I just want to come to work and have fun and be with the people I care about.”

“They worry, Y/N,” he sighed. “We all do.”

“I know. But, it’s been a while since anything has even happened. The thing on set was just me assuming the worst. I think it’s sort of calmed down.”

“I just want you to continue to take this seriously,” he argued. “Just because it’s been a week or so with nothing happening, doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.”

“Okay, and I get that. But, will you please just not mention those letters to anyone else? I don’t even want to think about them.”

“Okay,” he breathed out. “You’re right. It’s not okay for me to talk about that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you smiled. “I just feel kind of suffocated right now, and I just want to have some privacy I guess.”

“Alright,” he replied as he leaned in to kiss you. “What do you say we just enjoy the party? Maybe not bring up any of this again, at least tonight?”

“You have no idea how amazing that sounds right now.”

* * *

By the end of the night, you and Rob had to kick out the remaining partiers. It was late, everyone had had too much fun, and you all had an early morning. Luckily, the room was in okay shape; and you were eagerly changing into pajamas and so ready to just be with Rob.

You watched him as he changed, noting that he looked so serious as he got ready for bed; so you decided to lighten the mood.

“You didn’t get me a gift,” you pointed out playfully as you snuck up behind him and wrapped your arms around him. You pressed a kiss to the bare skin of his back since you had caught him just before he slipped a shirt on.

“Of course I did,” he grinned as he turned to look at you.

“I must’ve missed it.”

“No, I just wanted to wait until we were alone to give it to you.”

He began to dig through his bag for something now and you stepped away so that he could find what he was looking for.

“Sex does not count as a gift,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Well, I mean, I’m not opposed to that being a follow-up gift,” he said slyly, “But I did actually get you a real gift.”

He handed you a small box that was wrapped in pretty wrapping paper. You smiled at him before beginning to tear off the paper, wasting no time to see what he had gotten for you.

Once the paper was off, you noticed that this was definitely a jewelry box and you looked at him, sort of confused.

“Jewelry?” You asked, surprise in your voice as you held the small box in your hand.

Rob shrugged, still grinning.

“You’re gonna have to open it.”

You did as he suggested and opened the box.There, in that little box was a simple necklace with a heart shaped pendant on it. You removed it from the box and turned it over in your hand, then seeing that it was engraved. You smiled up at him this time, feeling a warmth grow in your chest to see your initial engraved next to his.

“Rob…” you said breathlessly. “This is beautiful.”

“There’s something on the back of it as well,” he pointed out.

You turned the pendant to the other side and had to laugh out loud when you read the inscription.

 _“Is it cool if I come over?”_ You read out loud.

Rob shrugged again, letting out a laugh as you smiled at him.

“What does this even mean?” You asked.

“You know I wrote that song about you, right?”

You had to pause for a moment. You stared at him, face turning up in even more confusion that previously. You actually never did know that. The band had released the album with that song on it not long after you actually joined the convention circuit. You figured you had only known Rob for roughly a month when it came out.

“Really?” You asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I wrote it not too long after we met. It was the last song we did for the album.”

“I don’t know if I should feel flattered or sad right now,” you mumbled as you looked down at the necklace.

“Oh,” Rob replied. “Please don’t feel sad. If you don’t like it-”

“I love it,” you cut in. “I just- it’s kinda sad to think about all the time we wasted by not telling each other that we liked each other.”

“Well, you know. Life,” he said. “You had a boyfriend and I had a crush, so I wrote a song. I just figured you should know that I wrote that thinking about you.”

“Okay. I’ve decided to be flattered,” you laughed. “Really, this is… so sweet.”

“It’s not too much, is it? I kinda felt like it might be. Because we just started seeing each other.”

“It’s not too much, Rob. This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

“So, it’s not too soon for jewelry?”

“I don’t know, is it?” You asked.

You wondered if you should think it was too soon for all of this, or if he felt like he had made a mistake by getting you such an expensive and meaningful gift. However, you loved it. You loved him and this gift just made you feel loved as well.

“Look,” he said softly as he moved closer to you, “all I know is that I’m in love with you. This felt right.”

You felt the twisting in your stomach as he said those words; not because you didn’t want to hear them, but because you were so excited to hear him finally say it. You had been holding back on using the “L” word for some time now, wondering if it would be too soon to say it to him. Now, you had confirmation that both of you felt the same way. It might be early on in your relationship, but you were both already there. You loved him and he loved you and it didn’t matter if this relationship was new; you were certain you had always loved each other.

“I love you too,” you replied.

You reached out to take his face in your hands, leading him toward you for a kiss. He kissed you gently at first, taking care to let you lead.

The gift was nice, you really did love it. But, more than anything, you were so happy to be at this point with him. You were content with just hearing him say those words to you.

After the kiss ended, and you pulled away, Rob made sure to help you put the necklace on. You touched it with your fingertips, still feeling so happy.

“Thank you,” you said again. “This means so much to me.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he replied.

“I’m never going to take it off.”

You turned to face him again, this time wrapping your arms around his shoulders as you looked into his eyes.

“I won’t argue with that,” he grinned. “But, maybe we could take off everything else, because I haven’t seen you in over a week and I really fucking missed you.”

“Well,” you said flirtatiously, “you did promise me that follow-up gift.”


	12. Part 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following an almost disastrous surprise party and a sweet gift from Rob, Reader is feeling better and is focused on making the con weekend a fun one. With her security by her side constantly though, she doesn’t have a lot of alone time with Rob, and the stress is getting to her. Then there’s those random phone calls she keeps getting from an unknown number.

“So, I’m supposed to inform you that apart from me, you also have your usual security here this weekend,” Dane explained.

You had grown to be used to the man who was now your handler at most of the conventions recently. Even after all of the weirdness at first, you had both moved on from all of that and seemed to be getting along quite well. However, his clinginess had only gotten worse, but that was just because of everything that had been going on.

While you wanted to have a bit more freedom, you knew you were far past that.

Not only was your birthday weekend off to a rocky start simply because of the events of last night, you knew it wouldn’t be much fun now that you had two extra people watching your every move.

“Ah, good ole Liam,” you chuckled as you and Dane headed toward the green room. “Tell me something, has he said anything to you?”

“No, I met the guy but he was pretty quiet I guess.”

“There’s something weird about the way he doesn’t talk,” you pointed out.

“I think he’s just here to do his job, Y/N. I guess that doesn’t really require too much talking.”

“Where is he anyway?” You asked as you opened the door to the green room.

The second you stepped inside the room, Liam was the first person you saw. He stood at the door, almost as if he were waiting for you.

“Oh, hello,” you said to him.

He didn’t reply, as usual, just nodded at you. You took that as a ‘good morning’ and moved past him, your eyes scanning the room for Rob. He had left early this morning to get down to the convention, after he had attempted to make you go with him so you wouldn’t have to walk down alone. However, you didn’t think any of this was worrying enough to miss out on a couple extra hours of sleep.

When you found him, you greeted him with a quick kiss and a smile, making sure to throw him a look as if to say, ‘I’m here and I’m safe.’ More than anything, he just always wanted to make sure you were safe.

“Good morning,” Rob said as he held onto you. “How were those two extra hours of sleep?”

“Amazing,” you replied. “And look, I made here safely all by myself.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Where are you off to first?” You asked.

“Photo ops. In like, five minutes.”

“Ah, then what?”

“Then I guess I’m onstage for a while. You know, the usual.”

“I feel like I never get to see you,” you whined.

“Well, we spent last night together,” he reminded you. “And we see each other all day here.”

“Yeah, in passing. We’re lucky if we get ten minutes together at a time. Then there’s all of this…” you said as you tried to subtly nod towards Liam, who was standing close by. “We don’t get a minute together alone.”

“I could be wrong, but I don’t think your security was in our room last night.”

“Sleeping doesn’t count,” you smiled. “I just- I miss when we’re not working and we just hang out back home.”

“Well, it’s day one,” he said as he reached up to brush his thumb against your cheek. “We’re done fairly early. We can do dinner together.”

“Really? I know how tired you are after a convention day…”

“Hey, I’m never too tired to spend time with you. We’ll have dinner and just be together.”

“I would love that,” you breathed out. “I need to just get away from all of this.”

You had been so stressed out by the constant company of people that you didn’t even know, that you had even considered sneaking away from the watchful eye of your security and handler. You talked yourself out of it though, knowing that it wouldn’t be a good idea. They were here to protect you, and no matter how much you said you didn’t need protection from anything, you knew you did.

You were afraid and the constant reminder of the fact that you had someone possibly stalking you didn’t didn’t help.

“Just you and me then,” Rob smiled.

Rob looked at Liam as if to let him know that his services wouldn’t be needed tonight. You were grateful that he didn’t put up a fight over it. Sure, it was better to have an actual bodyguard at all times, but you really just wanted to finally have some time alone with Rob. At least you would be out in public with someone, and you figured no one would bother you if that were the case.

* * *

Rob escorted you to dinner that night as promised. Luckily, your day had been pretty uneventful, which had you more at ease than usual considering everything. You and Rob dressed up a bit and he treated this as if it were a real date, which you greatly appreciated. The two of you had really skipped dating as you delved right into your budding relationship, so nights like this were always nice.

You sat together at the restaurant, enjoying a nice dinner and a few glasses of wine. You had only wished you could have shared a nice conversation. But, you learned that even on date nights, Rob couldn’t shut up about the stuff going on.

“You have a lot of ops tomorrow,” Rob pointed out. “And a meet and greet. Would you feel better if maybe I hung around during that stuff if I can?”

“You can’t. Rob, your the busiest one at conventions. You have no time to do that.”

“I can make time.”

“Stop it. It’s not necessary.”

“I know you have Liam, and trust me, he scares me so I’m sure he’ll scare anyone off; but I can still try. I want you to feel safe.”

“I feel fine,” you said sharply. “Really, none of this was my idea to begin with. You’re all still overreacting.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” he responded.

“Rob, can we not do this?” You breathed out in frustration. “I haven’t had one moment alone with you today, and the last thing I want to talk about is this.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied. “I just thought it might be important to discuss safety for the weekend.”

“I’m fine!” You replied, voice raised as your frustration with him grew. “How can I not be fine? I don’t get a single second alone. Everywhere I go, someone else is there. I can’t even go to the goddamn bathroom alone.”

Rob pulled back in surprise by your outburst. All you could do was hold your face in your hands as you tried to calm yourself.

It was all getting to be too much. It wasn’t that you didn’t think it was necessary, especially while you were at cons, but it was exhausting. Everything was piling up; the fact that you had to even have a bodyguard, the fact that you no longer felt safe anywhere, and then of course there were the phone calls that were still happening.

You hadn’t even told him about the few you received late last night and the one that you actually answered while he was fast asleep. Again, you had been greeted by near silence on the other end, aside from the audible sound of someone breathing.

He worried enough as it was, you didn’t want to give him a reason to worry more; even if it had been freaking you out.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said again. “I know it’s a lot, but your safety…”

“Is the number one thing, I get it,” you muttered unamusedly. “If I have to hear anyone say that again, I’m going to lose it.”

“Well, it is,” he said softly in return.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit much? I mean, no one has tried to hurt me or anything.”

“We’ve been through this.”

“Yeah, but no one listens to what I want. You aren’t listening to what I want.”

“I’m-“

“Stop apologizing,” you said, cutting him off because you knew exactly what he was going to say and you were sick of hearing it. “Look, I just wanted to spend an evening with you, without you bringing up all this crap going on. I adore you for the way you feel you need to protect me. I love you for how good you are. But I don’t want my life to be consumed by this… creep who won’t leave me alone. I just want one normal night with my boyfriend.”

“Okay,” he replied.

He looked at you sympathetically, giving up on his insistence finally.

“Besides, I sometimes feel like I’m just drawing more attention to myself now that I have a bodyguard of all things. I don’t know that upping security is going to make him back off. This is all just ridiculous.”

Rob pursed his lips, holding back his response. There was an internal struggle over whether he should just shut up, since you had told him you didn’t want to discuss this; and him wanting to remind you that it was completely necessary.

He made the right choice in the end; nodding in response instead. Neither of you said any more about it, in fact, you didn’t say anything else through dinner. The tension between you was palpable, but he didn’t want to risk upsetting you again and you just didn’t want to talk anymore.

By the time your silent dinner had ended, you were already letting go of how upset you had been. Yes, you had been excited for a real date night with Rob; and yes, that had turned into just him reminding you that you had a stalker. It wasn’t what you wanted at all. You just wanted a regular night out with him.

You reminded yourself that he only did all of that because he really did love you and he was worried. You saw the worry in his eyes constantly. Maybe that was the worst part of it. You never wanted for him to be afraid that someone could be out to hurt you, especially not when this relationship was so new.

You had been trying to deal with it on your own for a while, almost forgetting that Rob was here too and he had been involved in this the entire time. 

* * *

You stepped into your shared room and kicked off your shoes, collapsing on the bed and looking up at Rob.

He was standing sheepishly at the side, unsure of what he could even say or do given the way he had upset you.

“I think I’m gonna shower,” he said suddenly.

He was opting for a way out of the awkwardness, and you watched as he discarded his shirt, eager to leave the room.

You sucked in a breath, still amazed by how good he looked. You didn’t want him to feel awkward. You didn’t want for any of this to come between you at all. So, you decided to just let go of it all and remind him that you loved him. It wasn’t his fault, and he really was a good man for the way he worked so hard in keeping you safe. Even if it could become annoying at times, you appreciated him.

“You sure you wanna do that now?” You asked, raising a brow in approval at how good he looked standing there shirtless.

“I know it’s late, but it’s been a long day.”

“No, I mean, you sure you don’t want to wait?”

“Wait for what?” He asked.

“You are so dim,” you laughed as you crawled across the bed, stopping so that you could sit up on your knees and pull him toward you.

He got the hint and leaned down to kiss you, now undoing his jeans as you let your hands wander his bare chest.

Once he was down to nothing, he pushed you back against the bed, causing you to giggle excitedly as he moved over you. He kissed you hard, pressing his hips down against you and you moaned as you felt his erection.

“I’m the one who’s sorry about tonight,” you said breathlessly as he began to strip you of your own clothing, letting each piece fall carelessly to the ground wherever he decided to toss them.

“Don’t be,” he replied. “I know you’re just stressed out. Me bringing it up constantly doesn’t help. I’ll be better.”

“I would appreciate that. Sometimes, I just want to be with you. Sometimes, I just want to pretend that this isn’t happening to me.”

“Well, let me help you forget about it tonight,” he smiled.

* * *

Late that night, Rob lay next to you, snoring softly, in a deep sleep as you continued to toss and turn. You had been the one who wanted to not think about any of this. And, you had definitely forgotten all about it as he made love to you. But, now that you were here, laying in silence, you couldn’t stop thinking about it.

You had been playing it off as if it didn’t matter, pretending that you were fine and everyone else was being crazy about it. And, despite your friends warnings against looking for anything online, you had definitely not listened. You wondered if any of them had seen anything else that had been directed at you lately. You imagined so, as each account was removed and another resurfaced. You imagined that they were still on the job of reporting such accounts.

But, you found that you couldn’t look away. Every notification left you anxious and afraid; but you looked every time.

Now was another one of those moments that you felt like you couldn’t stay away. You reached for your phone and immediately opened Twitter, just to see if anything new had come through. You were torturing yourself with this.

This time, you checked your DM’s and noticed one from an account that you weren’t familiar with. You had turned notifications off for DM’s, but you curiously accepted the message. You knew you shouldn’t. You knew what it was. You knew that by interacting, you were just making things worse. But you couldn’t stop yourself.

Curiously, you opened it. The first thing to greet you was a photo that had obviously been taken here during the convention. It was of you and Rob while you had been outside of the con, during your dinner together. You recognized that it was taken during your conversation concerning everything that had been going on. It had been a difficult conversation, nearly a fight between the two of you.

Below the picture was a simple question: _“Does he really make you happy, Y/N?”_

Nothing else. Just that photo, which made you uncomfortable to begin with since it had obviously been taken by someone without your knowledge during a personal moment between you and Rob. Then there was that stupid question. It was almost condescending in a way. Someone was questioning your relationship with him.

You knew you should ignore it, but your curiosity was too much to get past. Deep down, you had a feeling that this anonymous person online could very well be the person who had been making your life hell lately. But, perhaps trying to talk to him could give you a hint at who he was.

 _“Who is this?” You_ typed.

You hesitated for a moment before hitting send. Almost as soon as you did, the person was typing back.

_“Someone who cares.”_

_“Why do you have this picture, and what do you want?”_

_“Does he?”_ They replied.

_“What?”_

_“Does he make you happy?”_

_“My personal life is private. Please lose this photo and leave me alone.”_

_“You don’t really love him. He just happened to make you think that he cares about you, and you ate up every word.”_

You were seething now. Angry that some stranger had the audacity to question something that they knew nothing about. You forced yourself not to reply, but the comments from their end kept coming.

_“He’s using you. Why can’t you see that? I hate seeing you so unhappy. Just say the words and I can fix all of this. I can get rid of him. Anything you need. No one has to know.”_

Now that you were creeped out by the words popping up on your screen, you quickly made the choice to block this person. You wanted so much to convince them to just delete this picture completely, but you knew you couldn’t convince whoever this was. You wouldn’t be surprised if this picture of you and Rob looking completely miserable showed up online and made the rounds before you knew it. Still, this persons vague threats mostly toward Rob made you realize you couldn’t continue to interact with them.

You dropped your phone on the bed and let out a deep sigh, now wondering if you should even mention this interaction to anyone else. On one hand, you shouldn’t have interacted at all with something like this, but you also wanted to know who it was that was doing all of this and why.

Your phone chirped, indicating that you had a notification just then. You picked your phone back up and saw that you had been tagged in something on twitter. You checked the notification and began to cry, trying to stifle your sounds so that you wouldn’t wake Rob. The account had posted the picture of you and Rob with the caption: _“is it just me, or are Y/N and Rob looking absolutely miserable these days? Trouble in paradise perhaps. Where’s the surprise?”_ Both you and Rob had been tagged and all you could do was quickly report the user and exit the app and toss your phone aside again. You wondered how long it would take for them to be deleted, or if they would be at all.

You turned to look at Rob, his features only illuminated by the faint light sneaking in through the hotel room curtains.

You decided you’d mention it in the morning. No need to wake him when he was sleeping so peacefully for once. There was no use in pretending this never happened. He’d see the tag, and the post would probably still be up, and he’d freak out more than you had. You knew his constant worry over you and his need to keep you safe was only going to escalate now. But, maybe you could talk him down.

Your brief consideration over possibly mentioning the strange phone calls went completely out the door now. There was no way you’d add that to the fact that some creep had followed you to dinner and took a picture of the two of you. The less he knew, the better for both of you.


	13. Part 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader’s anxieties are growing. Something has happened that Rob won’t give her details about, and that only makes her feel worse. A near panic attack during SNS proves that she’s a lot more afraid than she lets on.

The next morning, you got ready for the day quietly. You weren’t sure if you should bring up the strange messages or the photo that had been posted.

Rob never said anything about if for a while. He went about getting ready in his usual cheery manner that he reserved only for the mornings following an amazing night spent with you.

Later on, you hung out in the green room; the others coming and going as they did. You felt sort of pouty over the fact that you weren’t even free to come and go anymore, and a part of you resented everyone else for that. Technically, you could do things, but not without Liam hot on your heels. The last thing you wanted was for the fans to see you with a bodyguard. You were certain they’d roll their eyes at the notion that you thought you were at the same status as your more famous coworkers. It was best to avoid bringing attention to yourself anyway.

You sat there alone, just thinking about things as you subconsciously fumbled with the necklace that Rob had given you.

Again, you were faced with the fact that whoever had messaged you and scared you last night was most likely here at the convention. The fact that they had been in such close proximity, so close that they were able to take a picture of you and Rob at dinner, made you uneasy.

You had made the decision not to mention any of it to Rob. You had hoped that the post would be down by morning, but when you saw that it wasn’t, you hoped that he just wouldn’t come across it.

He had stumbled across it though, and he let you know it when he sought you out during one of his short breaks.

“So, you knew about that post?” He asked. “Were you just not going to mention it?”

“I knew you’d probably see it on your own.”

“Yeah, that was a great thing to see first thing in the morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I just- wish I could do something to make this guy stop. It’s getting out of hand, Y/N.”

“I know,” you replied.

Now, you wondered if you should mention the phone calls or even the direct message contact you had with the person last night.

“Not only is he crossing a line by the things he sends to you, but now he’s following us?”

“I just don’t know what to do.”

“We can’t do much if we don’t know who it is,” he sighed. “All we can do is just continue to make sure you’re safe.”

“Do you really think this guy would go beyond the social media stuff and the gifts?” You asked.

“Who knows? Better to be be safe than sorry.”

All of your instincts that told you to not make the situation worse by bringing up the other stuff went out the door. Sure, you didn’t want for him to worry more than he already did; but things were escalating and it honestly scared you. Besides, Rob had a way of finding things out, especially the things that you tried to keep from him in instances like this.

“I should probably mention something else,” you began.

He eyed you curiously, seemingly growing nervous as he waited.

“Whoever posted that photo that’s now making the rounds… they direct messages me last night.”

Rob’s face fell, a look of absolute worry crossing his features.

“You didn’t- you didn’t respond, right?”

“I did,” you said honestly.

If nothing else, you wanted to make this relationship work with him regardless of all of this stuff going on. You knew in order to do that, you had to be honest.

“I was upset,” you continued. “I just wanted him to stop. I asked him to stop. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but I sort of feel like he thinks he’s in love with me or something. He says you’re using me and that you don’t really care about me.”

“Y/N, that’s not true…” he said worryingly.

“I know it’s not.”

You reached up a hand to touch his face gently, letting him know that you cared for him and that you’d never believe what this person was saying.

“I just- you need to know I guess.”

“Is that all?” He asked. “Is that the only other contact you’ve had with him? Is that all he’s said?”

This time, you chose to leave out the vague threat that had been made in that exchange. You also decided against telling him about the strange phone calls. Honesty was important, but you didn’t want to worry him with more than you already had.

“Yeah, I blocked him and everything, but he still posted that picture. Looks like it’s made the rounds even if the account was removed.”

“I can’t figure out why this guy is so desperate that he continues to make countless accounts just to… threaten you and talk shit. If he’s so obsessed with you, why all of this disgusting behavior?”

“I have no idea,” you replied.

***

You were in a daze as you waited backstage to be introduced for your panel. You were still trying to let everything process, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you should even be here at this point. Yes, you belonged here with these people that you adored; but you couldn’t help but obsess over the fact that your presence here was not only unsafe for you, but possibly for others around you.

Before you had much time to get lost in your thoughts, you heard Rich call your name as the band played your song, indicating that it was now your time.

You straightened up and put a fake smile on your face before stepping onto stage.

You went through the motions, answering the usual questions thrown at you. For most of your time up there, you were simply trying to keep it together. You couldn’t help but scan the audience and wonder if he was out there. The thought of him being there, watching you, made you sick.

You didn’t know what went on through this man’s head, but from what you experienced, he was sick and okay with making a complete stranger’s life hell.

You suddenly realized that he was most likely here. He had been at the restaurant last night, why wouldn’t he be here in this room? Not only that, he would be at autographs and photo ops, getting close to you without you even being aware it was him.

For a brief moment, you felt as if you were going to have a panic attack as you struggled to answer a simple question about your character that a nice girl had just asked you. You wanted to cry as you came to terms with the fact that all of this was now most definitely affecting your job. You didn’t want to be here. You didn’t want to be put up on stage like this for some creep to have free access to watching your every move.

Almost as if on cue, the band and Rich made their way on stage again, now indicating that your panel was over. Just knowing Rob was here now, seeing his face as he smiled softly at you, helped you to ease up a bit. You quickly finished answering the question and eagerly waited for the guys to play you off.

You managed to make it through the afternoon without having a panic attack, even though it constantly felt like you were at the edge of doing so. You kept Liam close at all times, now no longer afraid of what people would say about you if they put two and two together and realized you now had a bodyguard.

He wasn’t Rob, but he still helped you feel safe. For this, you were grateful.

It wasn’t until you walked back into the green room after a rather stressful autograph signing later that day that you realized that even with Rob, you might not be safe.

***

Rob straightened up the moment you walked through the door. The others turned their attention to you at the same time and you suddenly felt as if you had just walked into a room of people who had been gossiping about you.

“Uh, hey guys…” you started as you made your way toward them. “Everything okay?”

Based on their blank expressions and Rob’s panicky look, you assumed everything was not okay.

“Look, you’re gonna stay with Briana tonight,” Rob said simply.

There was no, ‘hi, honey, how are you?’ No, ‘hey, we should probably talk.’ Just this blunt demand spoken by Rob that honestly felt like a kick to the gut. Had you done something to upset him? Had all of this become too much for him?

“What?” You asked, shocked that he would ask this of you when you thought things were going so well in your relationship.

“I already talked to her. She’s fine with it.”

His words came out as if they were supposed to ease your mind, but now you were just nervous over the thought that maybe he didn’t want you around him anymore.

“Are you- are you seriously kicking me out of my own room?”

“No,” he replied, offering a smile now; which still didn’t help your growing feeling of anxiety. “You just need to stay somewhere else tonight.”

“Sounds like you’re kicking me out.”

“Please don’t argue,” he sighed. “Not now…  I just can’t have you around me right now.”

“You’re upset with me,” you said as you sucked in a breath, that feeling in your gut getting worse when you realized he was avoiding eye contact with you and looking more fidgety than normal.. “Did I do something? Is this because of the argument we had? I thought we were okay. What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything,” he replied with a soft laugh.

This time, he reached out to you, holding onto your arms as he looked right into your eyes. If he hadn’t still been so nervous, this probably would have helped you to relax over the notion that he was upset with you.

“Please don’t think that you did anything wrong or that I’m suggesting this because I don’t want to be with you,” he continued.

“Then what? I feel safe with you, and you want me to just stay with someone else?”

He opened his mouth to speak, stopping himself short.

“What? What is it?” You demanded. “Are you breaking up with me because of all of this?”

“What? No! Y/N, I love you. I’m not leaving you, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings… I’m just suggesting this because maybe you’re not safe with me right now. At least not this weekend.”

You shook your head, giving him a look as if you didn’t understand.

“Look, I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t want to freak you out even more.”

“Tell me.”

“I just- I got this weird message earlier…”

“Okay?”

“It was just an- anonymous message….”

“What did it say?”

“It doesn’t matter what it said,” he explained. “All that matters is that whoever is following you, knows where you are all the time, when you’re there, and who you’re with.”

“What did it say?”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“It matters to me.”

“I just think it’s better if you stay with someone else tonight to maybe throw him off.”

“Rob, what did it say?”

“No,” he said firmly. “I refuse to have you worry about me when you need to be worried about yourself.”

“He’s threatening you now?”

“I didn’t say that,” he argued.

“You didn’t have to.”

“Y/N,” he said, grasping your face in his hands to try to calm you. “I’m not worried about me. I’m not worried about whatever he has to say to me. This is and will continue to be about you. You are the only thing that I’m worried about. Please, don’t push this and just do as I ask.”

“I am worried though. You can’t ask me to not worry about you.”

“He’s just trying to get to you. He’s trying to scare you, and it’s working. You have to think about yourself right now. I’m fine. I only want to protect you.”

Your arguments against staying with Briana and trying to get Rob to fess up about what this so-called anonymous message said fell short though. He wasn’t having it and insisted that you just not worry about it.

It didn’t help that the others chimed in with the same sentiments. It was best for you not to know details. It was best for you to maybe stay somewhere where this guy wouldn’t even consider looking. Apparently, everyone knew what was in your best interest but you.

For the remainder of the evening, no said another word about it. The group went out to dinner together and you thought it odd the way everyone enjoyed their meals, laughing and joking as if nothing was happening.

You watched Rob most of the time, still wondering what had been said to him that spooked him so much. You sort of resented him for not telling you the details, because now you were even more on edge just making up scenarios in your mind about what that message had said.

He didn’t have to tell you really. You knew it had been something bad. It had been enough to scare him. That much he couldn’t hide from you.

***

**SNS**

You hung out with everyone else backstage as Rob and the guys did their usual Saturday night concert. Somehow, you had let Rob talk you into performing tonight, convincing you that it would be a great way to take your mind off of things.

Still, you sat there, feeling nothing but anxiety as you waited your turn.

You tried to think of anything else other than what had currently been on your mind, but the thoughts had a strange way of creeping in at the most inopportune times.

You tried to focus on listening to Rob’s voice as he belted out the final refrain of ‘ _Rock Song,’_ the new arrangement still giving you chills no matter how many times you heard it. However, tonight it just meant that once this song was done, it was your turn to take the stage. You clenched your hands together, not really feeling nervous about singing, but feeling increasingly worried about being up there where anyone could see you.

The song ended and you began to breathe rapidly in response. You suddenly didn’t want to do this. You glanced toward the exit, strongly considering just making a run for it so you could avoid being on stage again. You darted your eyes toward Liam, who was standing close by and watching you, his expression letting you know that he definitely had a feeling that you were considering leaving.

Before you could think too much more about it, someone placed a hand against your shoulder, causing you to jump. Heart racing, you looked over and saw Rich standing there. Even recognizing him didn’t help to calm your anxiety. You were a mess right now and you were afraid it would be evident to everyone once you got out there.

“You ready?” He asked as he began to escort you to the stairs.

You followed blindly, heart rate picking up as you began to think more about your stalker. He was out there. You just knew it. Seeing you up on stage would just fuel his sick thoughts. Seeing you with Rob would just fuel his anger.

You hardly heard Rob’s voice announce you from the stage. All you could feel with Rich nudging you to make your entrance.

“I can’t-“ you choked out as you froze at the bottom of the stairs. Your hands gripped the guard rail as you fought back against Rich while tried to lead you up. You couldn’t make your legs move anymore. You couldn’t bring yourself to go out there.

“What’s wrong?” Rich asked.

You felt his hand touch you gently on your back, his words sounding sincere as he let his worry over you be known.

“I just decided I can’t do this,” you replied.

“What? Sing on stage?” He asked. “Y/N, you’ve done this before. You’re fantastic, don’t let the stage fright scare you away. You always get through it.”

“No,” you breathed out. “It’s not that.”

Before Rich could press you for more, a voice came from in front of you and you looked up to see Billy looking at you through the curtain. The sounds of the audience were muffled in your ears as you panicked.

“What’s going on?” He asked as he looked at you in concern.

“I can’t-“ you said again.

“Hey, you’ll do great,” he smiled in return. “It’s a duet. Rob has your back.”

“I can’t do this knowing that he’s out there,” you explained. “I can’t-“

“Woah, Y/N,” Rich cut in.

“I know I said I wouldn’t let this control my life, my job… but I’m not okay being out there knowing that he’s watching me.”

You felt the sting of tears as you finally let it out that you were afraid. You had held it back for so long, trying to be brave, but you just couldn’t anymore.

“Alright,” Rich responded.

He glanced up at Billy and gave him a slight nod. Billy must have understood what he was silently saying, because he darted back out onto the stage. Rich took your hands and led you away from the stairs to a spot where you could sit backstage.

You tried to steady your breathing as you listened to Rob’s voice come over the speakers, this time telling everyone that there was a change in the lineup and that Briana would be joining them next.

You looked over to Briana, who had been watching Rich help you away from the stage. She also looked concerned as she didn’t know what was happening. But, when she heard Rob’s announcement, you heard her mutter a swear out loud as she scrambled to take her place on stage as not to make the change in plans too obvious.

You sighed with relief, feeling guilty for messing things up, but also feeling grateful that they were all willing to just work around you while you went through this.

Rich led you back to your seat and you gratefully sat down, now working on slowing your breathing in an attempt to avoid the panic attack that you knew had been building up.

Rich said nothing. He simply kneeled in front of you, rubbing the backs of your hands that he had taken in his own. It was calming at least, and you forced a smile to let him know that you were okay.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered with a stuttered sigh. You pulled a hand away and quickly reached up to wipe away a few stray tears that had escaped.

“No need to be sorry,” he smiled in return. “If you’re not comfortable, then you’re not comfortable. No one would force you to do something if it scares you. Especially not right now.”

“Did I fuck everything up?” You asked. You bit your lip, hoping that Rob would forgive you for this.

“You didn’t fuck up,” he reassured you. “Everything’s fine. We’ve had worse complications during these shows and we always get through them.”

“I’m letting him down, aren’t I?” You asked as you nodded in the general direction of the stage.

You could hear Rob’s voice again as he sang his part on his duet with Briana.

Rich chuckled at you, shaking his head in disagreement.

“You could never let him down. Hell, that man loves you more than anything. But, I feel like you do at least owe it to him to tell him exactly how you’re feeling right now when the show is over. You’re terrified. And, this is the most afraid that I’ve seen you during all of this. I get the feeling that you hide that from him as well.”

You nodded silently, knowing that he was right.

You tried so hard to hide the fact that this was getting to you. You didn’t want to seem weak by showing your fear. You didn’t want to come off as dramatic or whiny by talking about this. So, you just learned to not show your fear. Tonight though, you just couldn’t hold back. It had all built up until you had no control over it anymore.

“Talk to him,” Rich said as he helped you by wiping another tear from your face. “And maybe you both need to re-evaluate how you’re handling this.”

***

After the show, Rob sought you out immediately. You had remained in the same spot through the entire thing, so he found you easily, practically running toward you with a concerned look on his face.

You sighed and stood up to greet him, forcing out a smile as he got closer.

“Y/N,” he breathed out as he embraced you.

You let yourself melt into the embrace, just wishing that you could stay like this forever. You didn’t know why, but he made everything better. The safest you ever felt is when you were with him.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he pulled back to study you. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” you assured him. “I just- got scared and I didn’t want to be out there.”

“Scared of what? Something had to have happened.”

“Nothing happened really. I just started thinking about him being out there… watching me… and I panicked.”

“Oh,” he breathed out, realization washing over him as you spoke.

“This whole time I’ve just- pretended that I wasn’t bothered… but I am. I realized that he’s here, and I don’t know who he is. But, he’s out there… and he sees me and he’s close to me and I don’t even know-“

You cut yourself off as you began to sob, all of your fear and anger over the situation finally coming out. Rob pulled you to him, holding you tightly as you cried.

You didn’t want to ruin his night, or anyone’s night for that matter; but here you were, crying hysterically in front of everyone.

All Rob could do was hold you and attempt to calm you. There was nothing he could say and he knew it.

***

Rob was at least gracious enough to walk with you and Briana to her room later that night. Everyone had turned down the idea of an after party, and you had felt guilty knowing that it was because of you. Already you were being a burden on your friends and you hated that feeling.

“Are you sure I can’t be with you tonight?” You asked him softly as you all stopped outside of Briana’s room.

You wanted him to change his mind. You wanted to sleep next to him, you wanted to feel the warmth of his body against yours. It was the only feeling in the world that calmed you through all of this.

“You know I want you to be,” he replied. “But, I really do think it’s best if you stay with Briana.”

“Right, throw him off a little bit,” you sighed

“He knows you’re always with me,” Rob explained. “I don’t know how he finds you every time, but if he can do that, I assumed he can find me as well. It’s better for you to not be with me for now.”

“What about you?” You asked.

“Don’t worry about me,” he chuckled. “He doesn’t want me.”

Rob gave Briana a look and you watched as she averted her eyes from the two of you just before Rob leaned in to give you a long, slow kiss. You giggled against his lips, finding the entire situation just ridiculous. He never failed to make you smile with his silliness, even he did have you worried at the same time.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said when the kiss ended.

Briana took that as her cue that your makeout session was over and she turned to say goodnight to Rob as she grabbed a hold of your arm.

“Goodnight,” you muttered to him, frowning over the thought of being without him tonight.

“Don’t worry,” Briana smiled. “She’s safe with me.”

Her words were aimed at Rob, who definitely looked hesitant to leave you; but he smiled in return, thanking her before he turned to leave for his room.

“It’s just one night, Y/N,” Briana said softly as you watched him leave.

“Yeah, one night for now,” you muttered, “until it turns into every night.”

She didn’t respond, but she gave you a look of pity before leading you into the room.

***

**SUNDAY**

You still didn’t want to be here. Today, you really didn’t want to be here.

As much as you loved your work and the fact that you got to be a part of these conventions, you didn’t seem to enjoy them anymore; at least, not since all of this craziness had started. Before, you could live at conventions and be perfectly happy. Now. you were just sick with anxiety and fear.

Sitting here at your autograph table was no longer an enjoyable part of your job where you got to converse with fans and have fun. It had become a tedious, stressful thing that you had to endure. It didn’t matter; the moment a new person stepped in front of you and said ‘hi’, your anxiety continued to build as you wondered if this person could be the one who was making your life hell.

By the time you were done with autographs this go-round, you were emotionally and mentally drained and more on edge than usual. This was the first time you considered maybe not doing autographs ever again.

The only thing keeping you from simply backing out of the convention was that you had at least made it to the last day. You literally only had a panel with the girls and some photo ops later. It wasn’t worth it to back out now. You only hoped that you could make it through with your sanity intact.

Even hanging out with your friends in the green room wasn’t fun anymore. You weren’t super talkative or social this weekend, and every time you saw Rob or your friends, you just had a gut feeling that they were sick of you and all of this drama that you had acquired.

Ever since this had begun to spiral out of control; your life didn’t seem to be your life anymore. All of the things you used to love doing, you now dreaded. All of the fans that you had started to get to know and adore, you now feared. Your friends thought you were a burden, and worst of all, Rob definitely must be regretting the two of you getting together.

Although nothing else had happened this weekend, you remained on edge. There had been no gifts, no weird fan encounters, no more photos or messages or phonecalls… But, it only felt like, what you could only describe as ‘the calm before the storm.’

You didn’t know what was worse; the fact that the person stalking you was here and could do anything to upset you or even hurt you at any moment, or the fact that they weren’t doing anything at all.

You had almost expected more. More flowers or notes, more messages or tweets, more reasons to be afraid. It wasn’t that you were upset that nothing else had happened this weekend, it’s just that you were so on edge expecting something… and now you just felt like you were overreacting again.


	14. Part 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Rob enjoy some time alone together after a stressful con weekend.

Being back home after a stressful convention weekend was the one thing that you really needed. You didn’t know why, but you felt better about everything.

At home, you felt safe. Especially now that you were with Rob for a much needed week together. No work, no gigs, no anxiety over wondering if an overzealous fan was close by at all times. Here, you could relax and focus on your relationship.

Rob had convinced you to leave the house today, mentioning that he had made plans for the two of you to just spend time together alone. While you still weren’t completely over the events of the weekend, you were excited to partake in whatever plans Rob had made.

You had been seeing each other for some time and still hadn’t had a real week alone where you weren’t freaking out over things. That morning, you quickly got ready, putting on makeup and dressing casually. You had borrowed one of Rob’s t-shirts as you dressed, not because you didn’t have clothes of your own already residing at his place, but because you loved to wear his shirts. Even though you were with him now, it still made you feel closer to him to have his clothes on. Also, you noticed that it sort of drove him a little crazy when he saw you sporting his clothing. Which was exactly what you were going for most of the time.

You joined Rob in the living room when you were finished, smiling at him when you took in how good he looked in his tight fitting jeans and t-shirt. He smiled back at you and you could already see that spark in his eyes when he noticed you wearing one of his shirts.

“You look amazing,” he muttered.

“I know,” you teased as you gave your hair a dramatic flip. “You look okay too. But, let’s be honest, your shirts look way better on me.”

You pushed your chest out to show off the shirt, maybe even doing so to tease him a little.

He bit his lip and grinned wider.

“I can’t argue with that,” he replied. “Are you ready? We should head out before I realize that I can’t control myself around you and we never make our date.”

“I mean, staying in also sounds like a good plan,” you responded.

“There will be plenty of time to stay in,” he smiled. “Today though… today is all about us going out and being a real couple.”

You didn’t argue. Instead, you followed him out the door and eagerly got into the Uber and waited impatiently as he spouted off directions to the driver.

He held your hand as you waited to make it to your destination, the two of you just talking about anything and everything that wasn’t the drama currently unfolding in your life.

It felt nice to leave it all behind for now, and you already didn’t want this day to end.

—-

The car stopped in front of a local brewery and you got out as Rob paid the driver. He joined you on the sidewalk, taking your hand in his again as he led you inside.

“This place is great,” he began. “They have fantastic beer flights and great food. Then we can play games after. They have skee-ball.”

“Oh, I love skee-ball!”

“I should probably warn you that I am really good at skee-ball,” he teased. “But, maybe I’ll hold back for you.”

“Please don’t. I should probably warn you that I am the skee-ball record holder at the arcade back in my hometown.”

“How many years has it been since you’ve been back home?”

“Well, a lot… I might be a little out of practice, but I figure it’s like riding a bike.”

“Hmm,” he hummed in response. “Maybe I won’t hold back since you seem to be so sure of yourself.”

You chuckled as the hostess led you to your table. You and Rob sat across from each other and she handed you menus before leaving.

You and Rob chatted after you ordered, each enjoying your drinks as you laughed together for what felt like the first time since you had started dating.

It wasn’t until your food arrived that Rob felt the need to bring up the things that had been going on.

“So, has anything else been going on with that creep that you haven’t mentioned to me?”

You sighed as he said it, feeling frustrated that he would want to make this the topic of the day. So, you decided to make it clear that today wasn’t about any of that. You didn’t want to live your life with this being the thing that ruled everything.

“No actually,” you said. “There’s been nothing since the last thing I told you about.”

“Okay, I just- I want you to know that you can tell me anything. In fact, I want you to tell me when things happen. I don’t want to be in the dark about whatever this asshole is doing or saying.”

You gave him a soft smile. Yes, it was sweet that he cared so much, but you still didn’t want this to be brought up today.

“Hey,” you started as you picked at your food to avoid eye contact. “I appreciate your concern and you’ve been so amazing with all of this, but I was really hoping that we could just- not talk about it while we’re home. Especially not now. I was just looking forward to a real date with my boyfriend, one where we have fun and talk about things that aren’t all of that.”

“I’m sorry,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.

You looked up at him, noting that he felt bad now.

“It’s okay. I am so grateful that you care enough about me to worry and keep me safe. But, can today just be about us?”

“Yeah, it can,” he smiled in return. “I won’t bring it up again.”

“Thank you.”

“How’s your burger?” He asked, changing the subject quickly.

“This is really good,” you said as you took a big bite of your burger. You smiled up at him with your mouth full and he chuckled as he watched you.

“I told you.”

“The beers aren’t bad either,” you explained when you finished chewing. You picked one of the samples and took a drink.

“Good. Do you want me to order you another flight?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” You asked.

“Maybe. You might have scared me a little bit when you said you were the skee-ball champion, so maybe me getting you drunk will throw you off your game.”

“Jokes on you,” you laughed. “I’m better at everything when I’m drunk.”

“Everything?” He asked as he wiggled his eyebrows at you.

“Everything.” You stated seriously, teasing him just a little.

“I can’t wait to find out.”

___

After lunch, Rob led you to the arcade where the games were. There was a bar in the space and he instantly went there first to order more drinks. You were already feeling a bit tipsy and carefree as you claimed a spot at the skee-ball lanes. You had already gotten tokens and prepped a lane for each of you when Rob joined you, carrying drinks.

You approached him and took one of your beers, taking a big drink before challenging him.

“You ready to get your ass kicked by your girlfriend, Benedict?”

“That depends,” he smirked. “If you kick my ass- and that’s a big ‘if’- how do you plan to celebrate?”

“Oh, usually just more drinks and a few minutes of bragging,” you shrugged. “But for you, it’s probably going to consist of a lot of bragging for a few days and maybe a picture on social media to prove to everyone that I’m better than you.”

Rob’s demeanor changed immediately and he frowned at you before taking a drink of his beer, seemingly to stop himself from saying what he wanted to say.

“What’s wrong? You joked. “Can’t handle being publicly mocked?”

“It’s not that,” he said quietly as he placed his beer down, avoiding your stare.

Now you felt like you had hurt his feelings over a stupid game that you hadn’t even played yet. You were slightly pissed off that he seemed to be the kind of guy who maybe couldn’t handle losing to his girlfriend and that confused you as Rob never seemed like this kind of guy before.

“Are you mad at me already?” You asked seriously.

“What? No, I’m not mad.”

“We were joking and laughing and you got all serious over a stupid game that hasn’t even happened yet. Look, if it damages your ego that much, I’ll just not even try to win.”

“Oh, Y/N,” he began as he moved toward you.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him as he placed a kiss to your lips.

“That’s not it at all. Really, I’m not that guy. I’ve been publicly mocked on social media by Rich plenty of times, I can handle teasing from you. I’m not mad, it would actually be funny if you do end up winning.”

His demeanor changed quickly again and he was smiling and poking at your sides, making you giggle and pull away from him.

“Well, you seemed upset by my joke.”

“No, I’m not upset,” he insisted. “It’s just- maybe posting on social media about anything isn’t a great idea right now. Especially if it gives away where we are.”

“Oh,” you breathed out. “I didn’t think of that.”

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t want that to be brought up, and I’m sorry I did bring it up… but, it’s just how I think now. My first thought is always your safety.”

“Well thank you for being the one to think. Maybe I should do that more often.”

“Hey,” he smiled. “No more thinking.”

He headed toward one of the lanes, turning to challenge you now.

“It’s time for you to lose.”

You grinned at him, grateful that he was making today fun for you, and also that he still thought of your safety even when you failed to consider it for yourself.

 

—-

Not surprisingly, your few rounds of skee-ball ended up being pretty heated. You and Rob jokingly swore at each other, arguing over who was cheating and whether or not the game was defective. You mostly sat back and laughed, watching as he became frustrated at the last round when he realized he had lost. The fifth round had been the tie breaker, and you had kicked his ass as promised.

You made sure to take pictures throughout the game, focusing in on your final scores that made Rob look as if he hadn’t even been trying. You laughed as you turned your camera to him as he frowned at you.

“What?” You asked as you snapped his picture and put your phone down.

“Pictures?”

“For posterity purposes later,” you said. “I promise I’m not posting them.”

“Just- don’t show Rich,” he mumbled.

“Come here,” you said as you sat down on a stool, reaching your hands out to him.

He obliged and you grabbed onto his arms, pulling him against you as you created your neck up toward him, indicating that you wanted a kiss.

He leaned down and kissed you softly. His lips just barely touched yours as he teased your lips with his tongue. You quietly moaned against his mouth, reaching up more so that you could get more contact. He pulled back, much to your surprise, and smiled at you.

“I can’t make out with you here,” he said. “There are families present.”

You pouted and settled for finishing off your last beer before looking at him sadly.

“But I do know a place where we can makeout,” he said with a wink as he grabbed your hand and pulled you from the chair.

You followed happily as he led you to the photo booth. He gave you a look as if to ask if this was okay, and you stepped inside without a word, pulling him in with you.

“We need a memory of this day,” he explained as he paid the machine.

You smiled widely as the two of you prepped yourself for the series of photos about to be taken. The first one, you just held each other, Rob’s head rested against yours as you both smiled. The next one, Rob moved in to nuzzle against your face, his bead causing you to giggle. The final two shots were proof of the fact that you couldn’t get enough of each other. Your promised makeout session had definitely happened right there, and you had photographic proof of the first few seconds of it.

When you both came back for air, Rob exited the photo booth, helping you out before retrieving the photo set.

You leaned your head against his shoulder as you both took a look at the pictures. You grinned up at him, making a mental note to finish this once you got back home.

When you turned to walk away, you stumbled slightly over your own feet. Rob immediately grabbed you, helping you to steady yourself as he looked around the floor for what might have tripped you.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m great,” you laughed. “Apparently I can’t walk though.”

“Are you drunk?” He asked, his lips turning up into a sly grin as you straightened up.

“I’m not drunk, just a little tipsy.”

“You’re drunk,” he pointed out.

“Okay, maybe a little,” you said as you pulled him to you, reaching your hand up against the back of his neck so that you could lead him into a heated kiss.

For a moment, you both forgot about the fact that you were in public, making out in front of people who certainly didn’t want to see this.

“Oh, yeah,” he said as he pulled away. “You’re definitely drunk. My plan worked.”

“I knew you were trying to get me drunk. But, it did not work,” you argued. “I still won.”

“Well, maybe my plan to get you drunk wasn’t so that I’d win,” he said casually.

“You don’t have to get me drunk to make me easy,” you said softly as you gave him your best bedroom eyes. “I’m always easy for you.”

“Hey, you’re the one who said she was better at… everything… when she’s drunk,” he said seductively.

“Maybe you should take me home then to find out.”

He groaned in response, closing his eyes shut tight as he considered your flirting.

“I would love to, but I did have one more thing planned.”

“Oh?” You asked, perking up a bit to learn that your perfect date wasn’t ending yet. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

___

Some time later, after a fairly long drive, you had pretty much sobered up when you reached the next destination. Rob helped you out of the car, again paying the driver as you took in a deep breath.

All these years you had lived in L.A. and you never were able to find much time to visit the ocean. You had certainly never been on a date to see the ocean and you thought it sweet that this was where Rob wanted to spend time with you.

He silently took your hand and lead you down through the sand, the two of you stopping briefly to remove your shoes to make the trek easier. You felt the fine grains envelop your bare feet as you walked, gripping onto Rob’s hand tightly when you realized that walking through the sand was harder when you were slightly drunk. He never let you go. He led you down to the shoreline, stopping when you reached it and motioned for you to join him as he sat.

You did just that, now able to really take it all in as you no longer focused on trying to walk without falling. You stared out at the endless water, breathing in the salty air, and listening to the waves crash. It was loud here, but peaceful at the same time.

You looked around the beach, noticing a few other people here and there, but it was mostly empty as the sun was setting in the sky. You glanced at Rob who was staring out at the horizon and you smiled to yourself before gazing out with him.

The two of you stayed quiet for a long time, just watching as the sun slowly sank into the water; the sky taking on the most beautiful shades of orange, pink, and purple. Honestly, you had never seen the sunset like this before. Living in L.A. was hectic and fast-paced, your life was always the same. You had never taken a moment to just enjoy how beautiful it could be here.

“Are you bored?” Rob asked suddenly as he took your hand in his, giving it a squeeze as his eyes never left the view in front of him.

“No,” you replied. “This is actually really nice.”

“You told me once that you never come here. No one has ever brought you to see the sunset over the water, and I figured you should see it at least once.”

“It’s breathtaking,” you replied, your eyes never leaving his face as you watched him in this moment.

“Are you even watching?” He laughed as he finally turned to face you.

“Well, I am watching the most perfect view out here,” you smiled.

“I’m flattered, but you’re missing it.”

He turned his attention back to the sunset, and you you hesitantly followed his lead. You were just grateful to be here with him. Yes, the other view was lovely, but you found yourself sneaking little glances in his direction. Maybe it was the lighting from the sunset, or the sudden romantic vibes from being here with him, or perhaps it was simply because you adored him so much… whatever it was, you had never felt so in love with anyone than you did with him right now.

After some time, the sky began to darken as the sun disappeared. You felt at peace for the first time in a long time, and now a lot less tipsy as your buzz wore off. You leaned back into the cool sand, breathing in deeply again as you let all of your worries wash away completely. You closed your eyes, focusing on the sound of the waves and and the seagulls, running your thumb against Rob’s hand that was still holding onto yours.

The next thing you knew, you could feel some of Rob’s weight on top of you and you opened your eyes, startled, as he pressed his lips against yours. This time, the kiss was deep and slow. His lips worked against yours wantingly, as he moaned against your mouth, parting your lips with his tongue. You smiled against him, obliging as you allowed him to deepen the kiss. You reached up and carded your hand through his soft curls before gripping onto him as you tried to pull him closer to you. He groaned again, trying to deepen a kiss that was leaving you breathless.

He nearly topped you as you laid there, his lower body halfway on yours and he moved his hips against you. You immediately felt the hardness of his erection press against your leg and you pushed back against him, craving the physicality of the moment.

That was the moment when Rob pulled away from you. This time he groaned in frustration as he tried to put distance between the two of you. He rolled over and laid back against the sand next to you, breathing heavily and running his hands through his hair as he tried to slow his breathing.

You felt as if you had done something wrong again, so you reached over and touched his face, stroking his beard as you apologized.

“Do not apologize for anything,” he chuckled. “You did nothing wrong. That was- so fucking hot.”

“Then why did you stop?”

“Because I can't control myself with you. I was trying to think of a way to discreetly fuck you right here,” he laughed.

“Oh,” you breathed out as you turned to your side to look at him. “You really shouldn’t have stopped then.”

“Number one, I can’t imagine that fucking in the sand would be enjoyable for anyone,” he explained. “And number two, I don’t want anyone to watch me make love to you. I want you all to myself.”

“I know the perfect place that we could go where you could have me.”

“Yeah?” He asked as he reached over and stroked your face.

“Take me home.”

___

 

When you got back to Rob’s place, you were in a daze. You weren’t sure if it was because you were still tipsy, or if it was just because your day with him had been so perfect that you felt differently than you usually did.

You decided to go with the latter, feeling as if your connection with him had deepened significantly just because of this one day.

Since the beginning of your romantic relationship, things hadn’t been easy for the two of you. What had started out as a fun and exciting growing relationship, had very quickly turned into something stressful. You blamed yourself for the baggage that you had acquired and drug into it, even if it hadn't been your choice to do so. Surprisingly, Rob had stuck with you through it all; never complaining and always right there to do his best to protect you.

Today though, you had felt your connection with him grown in a good way.

As he led you to his bedroom, removing your clothing before leading you to the bed; you felt more in love with him now than you ever thought possible.

As he made love to you, his eyes stayed on you the entire time. With every thrust against you, and every gasp or moan that escaped your lips, you only felt that this moment solidified the love that you had for each other.

Sure, all of the times before had been amazing and fun; but this moment right here was something more intense. It wasn’t just sex anymore.

He took his time with, drawing out your pleasure for as long as he could before you broke. You gripped onto him, your fingernails digging into his skin as you cried out. Your body shook, your breathing stuttered as you held onto him as he came shortly after. He continued to move against you, drawing out your releases as you gasped with each thrust. He crashed his lips against yours, quieting your moans as he slowed his movements.

When you were both spent, he rolled off of you, collapsing next to you as he breathed heavily.

Neither of you spoke for some time. You just laid there, breathing and smiling, touching each other’s bare skin as if to maintain that physical contact.

You finally turned to face him when you collected yourself, smiling at him.

“I love seeing you smile,” he said as he leaned in to kiss you.

“Well, I have a lot of reasons to smile,” you replied. “One really good one at this moment.”

“Have I ever told you that I love you?”

“Yes, and it's getting really annoying,” you joked. “You should stop.”

“Okay, I'll never utter those words ever again,” he teased.

“Nevermind, don't stop.”

You pouted as you moved closer to him. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you against his body.

You loved these moments of contact. The way his warm, sweaty skin felt against yours, the way you could feel his chest rise and fall as he tried to steady his breathing after getting so worked up. You loved the way he looked so gone afterwards, his sleepy blue eyes watching you as you traced your fingers against his beard, stopping always to tease at that white patch that you were so intrigued by.

And he would just watch you every time. He looked at you as if you were the most perfect thing in the world, and honestly, you hoped that he could see that you looked at him the same way.

He reached up and fumbled with your necklace just then, a soft smile forming on his lips as he looked at it.

“You know, I really love that you wear this all the time.”

“It means a lot to me,” you smiled.

“You mean a lot to me,” he pointed out.

“Are we trying to one-up each other?” You asked.

“I’m not challenging you,” he chuckled. “I learned my lesson today.”

“Good, because I will win this one too.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm,” you nodded, “I definitely love you more than you love me.”

“Oh, something tells me that this is one challenge that you will not win,” he said sternly.

“I always win.”

“No way,” he muttered as he nuzzled against you, placing soft kisses against your neck as you shuddered. “I promise you won't win this one.”

“Thank you for today,” you whispered. You didn’t want to argue about who loved who more right now. You had a good feeling that you both cared for each other equally at this point. Now, you just wanted to enjoy him and let him know that today had been the perfect day.

“Of course,” Rob replied.

“Really, just being with you like this… it was so needed.”

“I know it was,” he replied.

“You’re a good man, Benedict.”

“Well,” he chuckled. “We still have the rest of the week ahead of us to be together too.”

“How are you going to top today?” You asked as you pulled back to look at him.

“Aw man, do I have to make each day better than the last?”

“I mean, probably,” you said teasingly. “I don’t know how else you’ll keep me interested.”

The two of you laughed, holding each other tightly as you savored this rare moment together. Work and life had the tendency to get busy and difficult, but occasionally, it let up just a bit to allow the two of you moments like this. You knew you wouldn’t be able to ignore the reality of your life all the time, but for now, you could. You could just focus on the love of your life and your growing relationship with him, something that you so desperately wanted to work. You had spent years pining over him, and he had spent just as much time pining over you. It wasn’t always easy, especially considering the current circumstances, but it was definitely something worth fighting for.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	15. Part 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader’s #1 fan starts to get too close for comfort. She’s alone and vulnerable, and now she’s not even safe in her own home.

During the following days, Rob had exceeded your expectations as a caring boyfriend and the two of you spent your days together, just being a couple. Mostly, you stayed in, eating take out and watching movies, as well as cuddling on the couch and spending a lot of time in the bedroom.

At the end of the week, Rob reminded you that he had to leave town briefly to play some shows in Austin. You were pouty for most of the morning before he left, but you knew he would be home by the next day and you could go back to your lazy week together before you had to return to set. After that, you would meet up again at the next convention, and you’d both be busy with work.

You kissed him as he headed out the door that day, already wanting the day to end so you could wake up to him returning home. 

“You sure you’ll be okay without me?” He asked as he double checked his bag, making sure he had everything that he needed.

“I’ll be fine,” you replied.

“You can stay here if you want.”

“As much as I love being at your place, I probably should get back to my house,” you said. “I’ve been neglecting it since you won’t let me leave.”

“Hey, I didn’t hear you complain about it all week,” he grinned.

“And I never would,” you replied.

He leaned in quickly and kissed you again before grabbing his bag and heading for the door.

“If you need me, don’t hesitate to call,” he offered. “I still wish you would change your mind and come with me.”

“I hate to miss a show,” you said. “But, I think it really is better if I just stay out of the public eye for a bit longer. Besides, I have things to take care of before I head back to Vancouver in a few days.”

“I love you,” he said suddenly as he paused to look at you.

“I love you too,” you grinned, still feeling giddy every time he said those words to you.

“I’ll call you when I land.”

“Alright. Have a safe flight and an amazing show. I’ll lock up here when I leave.”

With one more quick kiss goodbye, he rushed out  to his Uber and you stood at the door, watching as he left you.

You let out a sigh, now feeling really alone. This time, it wasn’t the fearful kind of alone that you had been experiencing, just the kind of alone that could only be felt when the love of your life wasn’t right next to you.

You made your way back to your place later that day. You felt even more relieved as you stepped inside, even if it was without Rob. You missed him terribly already, but just being back in L.A., in your own home, out of the public eye made you feel better. Even alone, you felt safer here than you did at work.

You headed to the kitchen when you remembered that your stomach had been grumbling for some time, but you were disappointed when you realized that you definitely needed to do some shopping. You settled on a TV dinner that you found in the freezer. You ate quickly and decided to at least get ready for the rest of the day so that you could run some errands.

You made your way to your room and began to strip down, eager to have a shower. You stopped briefly to fumble with the necklace that Rob had given you. While you hardly ever took it off, you made sure to do so before you showered. Your anxious mind always had thoughts of losing it down the drain, and you couldn’t bear the idea of losing it. Carefully removing it, you placed it on your dresser before you headed to the bathroom.

You showered quickly and dressed afterwards. Why you were in a hurry, you weren’t really sure. Mostly you knew you had a few things to do, but just the thought of being out in public made you uneasy. The faster you got things done, the faster you could get back home and just stay in for the rest of the day. You definitely had plans to catch up on some TV, and figured that tonight would call for some junk food and wine since you were spending it alone. After you pulled your hair up into a messy ponytail, you grabbed your keys and purse, giving your room a once over for some reason before heading out.

***

You returned home some time later, struggling as you carried in a bunch of bags full of groceries. You had definitely overdone it considering the fact that you would only be home for a few days, but you figured you could convince Rob to stay over when he got back and the two of you could easily go through the food as you stayed in some more.

You finished putting everything away and for some reason, reached up to touch the necklace that Rob had given you. You did this often. Usually when Rob wasn’t around and you had moments of missing him. It had a calming effect each time your fingers rested on the small piece of metal. This time though, you nearly had a panic attack when you realized it wasn’t on. You paused, near tears as you wondered if you had lost it. Then, you remembered that you had definitely taken it off before you showered and left it on the dresser. You probably just forgot to put it back on.

You headed toward your room to find it, but as you moved past the back patio door, you suddenly stopped short.

You shuddered as you felt a breeze come through the opened patio door. Not because it was cold, but because the fact that the door was even open instantly freaked you out. You stood there for a moment and stared at it, noticing that it was open just a few inches.

You forced yourself not to panic, which was a feat in itself. The next hardest step was to address the situation rationally. You considered the possibilities of why the door was open in the first place.

Had you accidentally left it open when you left the house earlier? You tried to convince yourself that you had, even if you didn’t recall opening it at all when you got home. Maybe you had accidentally left it open the entire time you were at Rob’s.

All of your reasoning and what-if’s didn’t ease the already building anxiety, but you tried to convince yourself that everything was fine. You were forgetful. It made more sense that you had just forgotten than the other thoughts currently going through your head.

Curiously, you walked towards the door to close it. Despite the fear that you convinced yourself that you were feeling without reason, you made yourself ignore it. You made your feet move and you made yourself slide the door closed. The voice in your head was screaming at you to leave for some reason, but you told yourself that you were paranoid. Even if your paranoia was warranted, you refused to allow it to completely consume your life.

You shook off the strangeness of it all and headed for the bedroom. Once you stepped inside, you instantly turned to your dresser where you had left the necklace, your heart dropping as you reached up to touch the empty spot where you were sure you had left it. It wasn’t there, but you were so sure it had been.

Now, you felt yourself tear up, angry with yourself over losing it and worried about what Rob would say.

You gave a frustrated sigh as you scanned the floor, hoping that it had just fallen from its spot. When you didn’t see it, you then turned to face the rest of your room, glancing around in hopes that maybe you had put it somewhere else and just forgotten that too.

You hadn’t even been able to do much searching when you froze as your eyes stopped on your bed. You felt your breath catch just then, that nagging paranoid feeling now overtaking. Now, you felt afraid and now you were sure that it hadn’t been you who left the door open.

Someone had been here. Something didn’t feel right. Your eyes stayed on your bed; the sheets disheveled even though you had a habit of making your bed every day. Not to mention that you hadn’t even slept here in weeks. But that wasn’t what had you freaked out. On the sheets sat a single red rose.

Your fight or flight instinct kicked in and your body tensed. You could feel your heart beating in your chest as you stood there. You considered just running right then, but you would be damned if you overreacted to something that you weren’t sure of yet. Your curiosity got the better of you and you slowly took a step toward your bed.

 _‘There’s no way that this is what I think it is,’_ you thought to yourself. _‘You’re overreacting again.’_

You forced yourself not to panic right now. Instead, you willed your feet to move so that you could examine the rose that was sitting there. When you got closer, you saw that there was a note attached. Although the obviousness of this was eating away at you, you tried to hide your fear.

_‘This is impossible. This isn’t happening.’_

You had gotten into the habit of not reading the notes attached to these strange gifts, but given the way you had reacted when your own boyfriend sent you flowers for your birthday, you figured it was best to read this one. Perhaps Rob just hadn’t learned by now. You told yourself that it would make more sense that he had left this for you, probably completely forgetting about the last flower fiasco. The rational part of your brain said otherwise. There was no way Rob could have been here. He didn’t have a key to your place, you had been with him all week, and he had just left the state. Still, there had to be an explanation that wasn’t what you were thinking in this moment.

Even as you picked the rose up, you knew that this wasn’t from Rob. He knew by now not to send you things like flowers and letters, but you desperately wanted this to be one of those moments when perhaps Rob wasn’t necessarily thinking straight.

You touched the small note that was attached, noticing that your hands were shaking. This was a sign that you definitely knew something was wrong. But, you ignored that feeling.

You took a deep breath and opened the note, praying that all you would see was Rob’s name scrawled across it. You would be pissed if he had done this, but it was certainly better than the alternative.

Your eyes focused on the message inside, your breath catching as you easily recognized the handwriting. You covered your mouth with one hand, choking back a sob, as your body began to shake harder.

_“I would die for you_

_I’ve been dying just to feel you by my side_

_To know that you’re mine”_

You dropped the note the moment that the words registered. You felt the sting of tears then, still covering your mouth as you attempted to quiet yourself. You scanned the room for any indication that whoever this was could still be here.

The panic rose within you then; hands shaking, head pounding, tears falling, your heart racing to point of making you feel as if you would pass out. Never before through all of this had you ever felt more terrified than you did in this moment. He could still be here. He could be hiding, watching you, waiting…

You forced yourself to move finally, not sure of where to go, but certain that you couldn’t stay here.

You walked quickly from the room, making sure to grab your keys and phone as you rushed out the door. All you could think to do was get into your car. You hurried in and locked the doors behind you as you stared at your home, almost as if you were waiting for someone to follow you out the front door.

You didn’t know what to do. You hardly knew your neighbors and you didn’t want to bother them with this. So you just sat in your car for a moment, trying to let this register, your eyes never leaving your front door.

Finally, when you realized you couldn’t sit here forever like this, you hesitantly decided to call the police. This was the last thing you wanted. You had never wanted to get the police involved. But, this guy had been in your house. One of the only places where you actually felt safe.

As you waited for the police to arrive, you decided to call the next person that you thought of in a time like this. You dialed him up, surprising yourself that you weren’t calling Rob, and in turn, feeling really guilty about it. But, Rob wasn’t here. He was nowhere near you and he certainly couldn’t get to you as quickly as you wanted him to.

Liam though, he had been hired to protect you, and you really did feel safe with him. You weren’t sure how much help he could really be to you right now, but you knew that you needed someone.

***

The police arrived before Liam did. You stepped out of your car, addressing them when they got there. You vaguely explained what you had come home to and nothing else. The rest of the story didn’t really matter, you thought. All that mattered was that you made sure that whoever had been here wasn’t here anymore.

The officers did a once over through the house, checking every place that they could think of before letting you know that the house was clear. You hesitantly followed them inside as they questioned you more and explained some things.

“I was only gone for a couple of hours,” you explained. “I came home from my boyfriends house, everything was fine. I showered and left the house. This had to have happened while I was out.”

“Did you notice if anything was missing?” One of the officers asked.

“I don’t know. Someone had definitely gone through my things, but I didn’t really check.”

“Make sure you do check and report it if you find anything has gone missing.”

“Wait,” you said. “There is one thing. My necklace. I know I left it on the dresser before I left the house. It was gone. It means a lot to me and I don’t know if I just misplaced it or- if someone took it…”

You started to cry again. Weirdly, you were more upset about the necklace now than you were about the fact that someone had been in your house.

The officer asked you to give him a description of the necklace and you did just that as he took notes.

Just as you finished, Liam came bursting into the house through the already opened front door, causing the officers to react. You held your hands out to calm them, letting them know that it was okay.

“I’m so sorry to call you with this,” you said as he approached you. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“Of course you call me miss Y/L/N,” he said softly. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Who is this?” The officer asked.

“I’m her security,” Liam explained. “I was hired not long ago to protect her.”

“From?”

He glanced toward you, giving you a look of disappointment. Of course you had failed to mention the current situation.

“I’ve been dealing with an… overzealous fan lately.”

“A stalker,” Liam cut in. “She has a stalker.”

“Well,” you said firmly as you held your hand up to him to indicate that he needed to stop. “It’s a fan who has been crossing some lines. There’s never been a police report, so I don’t think all of that qualifies as a stalker.”

“Why have you never filed a report?” The officer asked.

“Well, because I don’t know who’s doing this. How do you file a report against someone who’s anonymous?”

“Still, if someone has been following you and coming into your home, you file a report. This might not have been the same person, but you never know.”

“Actually. I do know.”

The officer gave you a puzzled look as you started to explain.

“The flower and the note…  gave it away.”

“What?” Liam asked. “Did you not mention all of that already?”

“Maybe not.”

“The flower and the note aren’t a new thing?” The officer asked.

“No,” Liam answered for you. “I wasn’t hired yet through most of that, but I was certainly briefed. Those are the exact things that had been sent to her on multiple occasions.”

“I recognized the handwriting,” you added. “And the song.”

“Song?”

“#1 Crush,” you explained. “I sang it once at a show. The notes usually contain some of the lyrics.”

“Why that song?”

“Well, it was one of the only songs I ever performed. The first actually. All of this sort of started after that show.”

“Aside from the letters,” Liam added. “Those started months ago.”

“There have been letters?”

“This is all very complicated. But, yes. There have been letters, gifts, messages, possibly phone calls…”

“Phone calls?” Liam asked in surprise. “Rob never mentioned that you were receiving phone calls.”

“I don’t know for sure that they’re related, but yes, I have gotten some strange phone calls that I may not have mentioned to him.”

You and Liam explained the situation a bit further, the officer taking a lot of notes as you did so.

“You should probably invest in a more updated security system,” th eofficer said. “Especially in L.A. Change your locks, security codes, everything. Whoever this was didn’t force their way in, so it could have happened a number of ways… they have a key or a code, you accidentally left the door opened or unlocked…”

“I didn’t set the alarm when I left,” you realized out loud. “I’m sometimes really bad about it.”

“How long have you lived in the city?”

“Long enough to know better,” you replied. “But I’m never home enough to get into the habit.”

“This happens often with celebrities,” he explained as you walked with him to the door, Liam still close by as he too listened to the conversation. “You get crazy fans who don’t understand boundaries. Usually the behavior goes away eventually, especially if they get caught, but since you don’t know who this person is, it’s going to be a bit harder to catch them.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled.

“My advice,” he continued, “take all of this stuff that you say has been going on… the notes, the gifts, the messages on social media, the phone calls… take all of that proof and file a report. You’d be amazed what can be found out with even a little bit of information.”

“Okay,” you replied. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should have listened to my boyfriend a long time ago and gone to the police.”

“Sounds like a smart man,” he smiled. “For now, at least until you can get your security system updated, I’d recommend staying somewhere else for a while. We’ll have someone drive by and check on the place occasionally, see if this guy returns.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have somewhere you can stay?” He asked. “Preferably where you’re not alone?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Alright. Take care miss. I’m very sorry about all of this. But, we’ll do what we can to hopefully catch this guy.”

You watched as the officers left, chuckling to yourself because you knew damn well that they weren’t going to catch someone who was basically anonymous. Still, you did consider the advice to file a report. Maybe it wouldn’t do you any good, but you knew it would certainly make Rob feel better, especially once you told him about this.

You turned to Liam and shrugged, unsure of what to do now.

“I’ll call someone in the morning to come look at your security system,” he stated, immediately taking charge of the situation. “And someone to change the locks.”

“You don’t have to do all of that…”

“I do,” he insisted. “I’m here to protect you and this needs to be done. Where will you stay tonight?”

“I have a key to Rob’s place…”

“But he’s out of town,” he said with a frown.

“How did you know that?”

“My apologies, but you should know that Rob converses with me regularly about where you are and where he is. He let me know he’d be away and asked that I check with you often. I probably should’ve checked in earlier.”

“That man…” you said as you laughed fondly at the thought of him.

“He cares about you.”

“I know. He’s a good man. A pain in my ass sometimes, but a really good man.”

“Do you know anyone else in the city that you can stay with?”

“I know a lot of people in the city,” you said as you forced yourself to go back into your bedroom to pack some things. “But I’m not going to ask to stay with them.”

You shuddered as you entered the room, only relieved as you saw that they gifts left on the bed were gone now. You tried to ignore the bed and the other things in the room that were out of order. You hated thinking about what this guy could have been looking for or what he might have taken.

Your hand went back to your chest as you hoped that this time your necklace had magically appeared. It made no sense that anyone would take that of all things, but now you couldn’t help but wonder if that were the case.

“Well, you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I know, but look,” you sighed. “Everyone I know has families. My friends have wives, husbands, kids… I can’t ask to stay with them when I have a creep following me. This guy found out where I live. If he can do that…”

You stopped short, not wanting to consider that he could find you anywhere. You wanted to go to Rob’s place and just wait for him there. You knew that’s where you were going to go anyway. You felt safe there. Now, you knew you might not be safe there at all either. The thought made you sick. Where could you go? He knew where you were all the time. He had found you in one of the only places that you felt safe.

“You think you’ll be safe alone at Rob’s?” He asked, almost as if he had just read your mind.

“No. I don’t,” you replied honestly. “Now I kinda don’t want to go there either. I don’t want this guy to know where Rob’s place is.”

“So, where are you going to go?”

“Rob’s,” you said as you let out a defeated laugh. “He’ll be so upset with me if I don’t go there.”

“I imagine it could be safer there.”

“It is,” you said as you breathed out. “It’s very secure. Gated even. Maybe if you drive me there, and I leave my car… maybe this guy found me that way. My car I mean. License plates and all that.”

You rambled on as Liam watched you, throwing a few more things into your bag before looking around the room again.

“I just need to get out of here. I’m really freaked out.”

“Alright, I’ll take you to Rob’s then,” Liam offered, giving you a soft smile.

On the drive to Rob’s place, you couldn’t help but think about what an idiot you had been. You had probably been the one to leave your house without locking anything. It was your fault that this guy had been able to just waltz right in. You only hoped that whoever it was didn’t know where Rob lived. The last thing you wanted to do was put him in a situation like this.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone,” Liam said as he drove, his eyes never leaving the road in front of him. “Especially when Rob isn’t even in town. He told me not to let you out of my sight. But, I mean, personal space an all.”

“It’s fine,” you replied. “It was never in your job description to be around me at all times or camp out in front of my house. You’re just supposed to be on the clock while I’m working. I’m sorry I called you with this. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“That’s my job. Of course you can call me for anything. The real question is, have you called Rob yet?”

“No…”

“You’re going to, right?”

“What if I said no?” You asked.

You were already dreading his reaction to this. Yes, his protectiveness was adorable, but sometimes it was overbearing. This was just going to make his anxiety worse.

“I’d say; if you don’t call him, you know I will,” Liam answered.

“You know, I’d find that really annoying if I wasn’t so freaked out right now.”


	16. Part 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is feeling really paranoid after the entire ordeal. She convinces herself not to suspect just anyone the way that Rob tends to do though.

It took a couple of hours for you to work up the nerve to call Rob. You had already been dropped off at his place, and after having Liam walk through the house just to check to make sure everything was okay, you were alone again. Even being here didn’t help you to calm down. In fact, you were really on edge.

You did call him though. It would be so much worse if Liam had called him first, and you knew he would talk to Rob eventually.

You dialed him up and were a bit surprised that he had answered so quickly. You sort of hoped that he’d be too busy to pick up at all. But, now you had to just tell him about what had happened.

“Hey, how are things?” You asked.

“Good,” he replied. “We‘re on our way to the venue now.”

“That’s great,” you smiled. “I’m glad you’re out having fun. God knows you need it.”

“Still, I miss you so much. I worry about you.”

“Well, I am on the phone with you now and that just goes to show that I’m safe.”

“How are you? Anything exciting going on?”

“Actually, there is something I should tell you.”

“What’s up?”

“So, I don’t want you to freak out, but something happened today and I guess you should know about it.”

You bit your lip nervously as he stayed quiet for a moment.

“Okay… now I’m a little freaked out. What happened?”

“Someone was in my house today,” you said bluntly, pausing only briefly before continuing. “I wasn’t there, but I came home and the patio door was open.”

Rob was uncomfortably silent as you briefly relayed the event to him.

“Someone came into your house?” He asked, looking for clarification. “Are you sure you didn’t just leave it open by accident?”

“That’s what I thought at first. But, uh, someone had gone through my things and my bed was messed up. I always make the bed.”

“What the hell?” He exclaimed, worry evident in his voice.

“And there was a rose and a note,” you added quickly.

“You didn’t call me?” He asked.

“I’m calling you now-“

“You should have called me right away!”

Now he sounded angry. His voice had risen throughout the conversation, and now you felt bad about upsetting him so much.

“I’m sorry-“ you muttered. “I just- I called police and then Liam… I didn’t think of calling you first.”

“Really? You didn’t think at all about calling your boyfriend the moment you realized someone had been in your house?”

“You-“ you paused for a second, hoping your next words wouldn’t upset him even more. “You’re not here. My mind just went to someone that I knew was closer to me.”

You heard him let out a stuttered sigh, indicating that you had upset him more.

“I’m sorry-“ you started, only to have him cut you off.

“No. Don’t be sorry. I get it. I’m away, and it makes sense that you would call someone who could get to you faster.”

“I’m okay,” you explained.

You only hoped that your words would ease his mind a bit, but you knew better. There was no way he was going to feel okay about any of this, especially when he wasn’t close by to physically check on you.

“Thank god…” he muttered. “Y/N… what the hell?”

“I know. I don’t know how he got in, I just know it was him.”

You were both quiet for a moment, each of you trying to take in the heaviness of the situation. You could lie all you wanted and tell him that you were fine, but you weren’t. You were terrified by the idea that someone who had been keeping tabs on you had actually found your home and gone into it while you weren’t there.

“Rob,” you said softly. “I’m scared.”

You heard him sigh heavily again and imagined his frustrations.

“I know,” he replied. “I am too. Look, I’m going to come home right away. I’ll head to the airport and hope that there’s a flight back soon.”

“Your show…” you pointed out.

“I’m not worried about the show. I’m worried about you. I need to be there for you.”

“You need to be there for your fans,” you corrected him. “They travel to see you play. I can’t be responsible for you letting them down. Just- play this one show tonight, and then come home. You rushing back right now won’t change what already happened. I’m okay.”

“How am I supposed to do a show knowing that this creep has been in your house? How do you expect me to focus on work?”

“Look, I’m at your place. I didn’t even bring my car here. I’m thinking he doesn’t know where you live at least. I’m safe here.”

“How can you think you’re safe after this?”

“I’m just telling myself that I am,” you chuckled. “I’m scared, but I’ll be okay. I have Liam on speed dial and your place has better security than mine does anyway.”

Rob sighed again, seemingly not convinced at all.

“Can you just call Rich or Briana or someone? I’d feel better if you were at least with someone we know.”

“The thing is, I don’t want to drag any of them into this. I don’t want this guy to have any way to know where our friends live. They have families, Rob.”

“But, he could easily find out where I live if he doesn’t know already,” he said.

“Yeah, I was just trying not to think of that.”

“Okay,” he said finally. “I’m gonna do this one show, then I’m flying home right after. Stay at my place, but make sure everything is locked. Doors, windows, the gate… set the alarm too.”

“I know,” you replied. “I’ve already done all of that.”

“I’ll call you before I leave and then when I land.”

“Thank you.”

“If- if anything happens-“ he paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, “call the police and Liam, but please call me as well. Don’t wait.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” you assured him. “I mean, whoever this is did wait until I was out of the house to let himself in. It’s like he was avoiding me being there anyway.”

“Yeah, it seems that way until he no longer thinks it needs to be that way.”

“Rob, I’m fine,” you replied firmly. “I’m scared and I’m pretty shaken up, but I’m okay. Please just have a good show tonight and I’ll see when you get back.”

“I’m not going to stop worrying,” he warned. “You’re all I’ll be thinking about.”

“If it makes you feel better, you can always check in with Liam,” you chuckled. “You know, since you apparently talk to him often about where I am and where you’re going to be.”

Rob stayed quiet for a moment as if he were thinking about your joking comment.

“What?” He asked finally, voiced filled with confusion.

“Oh, just that he told me that you let him know you’d be away and to keep an eye on me. Really though, usually I’d be annoyed by that, but it’s actually really sweet that you make sure he’s aware. I certainly don’t think about those things.”

“Huh,” Rob responded, still sounding a bit confused. “Did I tell him that?”

“He said you did,” you answered.

You felt yourself get anxious again just by Rob not remembering that he had mentioned anything to Liam. Liam had insisted that Rob told him specifically that he would be away and to check in on you. You had heard him say exactly that. But, the fact that Rob seemed so unsure made you worried.

“I probably did and just forgot,” he responded.

He still didn’t sound sure, but you told yourself not to overreact to anything. Why would Liam lie about something like that? How else would he have known that Rob was away and that you were alone? Of course Rob had just forgotten that he had mentioned it. It was completely like Rob to forget things.

“Yeah. I’m sure you just said something in passing,” you added.

***

That night, you lay in Rob’s bed, sleepy but unable to really relax. You wanted for him to be home already. The darkness of the night only increased your fear. You were always trying to push back that feeling, but today had taken its toll and you really just didn’t want to be alone.

Your mind raced with questions and worry now. Honestly, the anxiety was a default setting lately. Every little action that anyone made out of the ordinary, anything said that was out of place, and any strange behavior was enough to make you nervous.

You still couldn’t get over the way Rob seemed so unsure about having said anything to Liam. This thought led you to even more thoughts about earlier today. You recalled how quickly he had gotten to you after you called him. You didn’t know where he lived, so you couldn’t be concerned with the fact that he had showed up. But then again, you couldn’t recall even telling him where you lived when you had called him in a panic. You dwelled on that thought for a moment.

You had called him, and he had rushed to you. But honestly, in the midst of all of the panic, you didn’t know if you could trust that you hadn’t spewed out your address to him and maybe forgotten that you had. You suddenly sympathized with Rob a lot.

You closed your eyes and sighed out loud, trying to shake the thoughts from your mind now. This was insane. Deep down, you knew you were becoming suspicious of Liam. It was ridiculous really. The man had been hired to protect you from the very thing you were wondering if he could be. You also began to understand Rob’s thought process now. All either of you wanted was to know who was responsible for all of this. You both so desperately wanted to blame someone, and you were each trying to rationalize everything with people that just couldn’t be doing these things.

You realized that you couldn’t make yourself as paranoid as Rob was through all of this. Most likely, this person was someone that you had never even met. It was the only thing that actually made sense.

 _‘Besides,’_ you told yourself, _‘I would’ve noticed Liam if he had been the one to take that photo of Rob and I at the restaurant.’_

***

Just as promised, Rob had called before boarding his late night flight and then again when he landed hours later.  You had fallen asleep at some point in between the two calls, which was a feat in itself considering how scared you still were.

You forced yourself to stay awake once he had called to let you know that he had landed in L.A. so that you would be up when he got home. Also, it was probably a good idea to not be passed out when he came in. The last thing you needed was to be startled by your own boyfriend in the middle of the night.

You heard the car pull up outside first. Even though you were expecting Rob, you were still slightly afraid that it could possibly be someone else. It wasn’t until you heard the front door open and someone entering the code on the security system that Rob finally called out to you, letting you know that it was him.

Your anxiety let up once you heard his voice and you sat up in bed to wait for him. The moment he walked through the door, you smiled. You were relieved to see him again and he made his way to you quickly.

You giggled as his lips found yours, his hands gripping onto your hair as he pulled you tightly against him. It was as if he hadn’t seen you in ages and his kiss felt almost desperate.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he breathed out once he broke away from the kiss.

He rested his forehead against yours and sighed, his fingers now working at caressing your face. You smiled again, feeling so much love for this man and the way that he cared about you so much.

“I’m glad you’re home,” you replied.

“We need to make a plan,” he said as he pulled back and looked into your eyes.

You hated to see that look that he gave you. He was concerned and scared. Probably more afraid than even you were. But, this conversation was the last thing you wanted right now. It was late, or early. You were tired and he looked exhausted.

“Can we worry about it when we wake up?” You asked. “I just want to be with you right now.”

“Yeah, we can talk about it in the morning,” he agreed.

He kissed you again, this time a little softer and a little less desperate. His lips pressed against yours gently, his tongue tracing against your lips until you finally let him in.

***

That morning, when the two of you were up and indulging in coffee together since neither of you had really gotten much sleep, Rob wasted no time in continuing the start of the conversation about the plan that needed to be made concerning the situation.

“You’re filing a police report,” he demanded as he looked over at you from his chair at the table.

“Okay.”

You didn’t argue. You knew he was right. It had to be done even if you didn’t know who was doing all of this.

“And we need to think about stepping up your security. Especially at work and at conventions.”

“Fine,” you breathed out, not pleased with the idea of having even more protection during those things. “Liam is also working on getting someone over to my place today to update my security system and everything. I should be fine to go home later.”

“Clearly, you are staying with me,” he said loudly, squinting at you as if he were considering your sanity.

“It’s fine. The police said I should just upgrade my security system.”

“It’s not fine, Y/N. Someone was in your house. No, not someone… your stalker was in your house. He knows where you live now.”

“I mean, it could have been anybody…” you tried to reason with him, not even convincing yourself.

“Stop downplaying this!” He shouted finally.

“I’m not trying to,” you responded softly.

You felt your eyes well up with tears simply over the fact that he seemed angry with you.

“Please, don’t cry,” he sighed, lowering his voice and looking disappointed in himself. “I didn’t mean to yell, but you have to stop pretending that this isn’t serious.”

“You’re right,” you mumbled in return.

“I would feel better if you stayed with me. I think you’d feel better as well.”

“Yeah, I would,” you agreed. “Who knew that all I would need is a stalker to make you ask me to live with you?”

You laughed softly, kicking yourself over the fact that you just couldn’t stop making jokes about this. Based on Rob’s expression, he wasn’t amused by your joke at all and you quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to stop making jokes. Really though, thank you. Thank you for caring about me and giving me a safe place. I really do appreciate it. And I really do love you.”

“I love you too, Y/N,” he said in return. “I’m not trying to be controlling or anything. I just want you to be safe.”

“I know.”

“We should also probably start to look at all of this a little more logically.”

“What do you mean?” You asked before you took a sip of your coffee.

“I don’t want to cause a problem between us, but doesn’t it strike you as a bit weird that someone just- knew where you lived and came in like it was nothing? I mean, no forced entry… it’s like- whoever this was knew how to get in and-“

“I probably left the door unlocked,” you argued. “I had to have.”

“Or, maybe someone had a key or something.”

“What are you suggesting exactly?” You asked.

“You can’t rule it out that the person responsible for all of this isn’t someone you already know.”

“Are you still on this?” You asked as you rolled your eyes at him. “My ex boyfriend is not stalking me and Adam is not stalking me.”

“I didn’t say any of that, but I am saying, it’s a little weird that you accidentally leave your door unlocked after living in L.A. for all these years, or that your security system flaked out on you at this very moment.”

“I’ve never given the code to anyone,” you argued. “No one has a key to my place. Not even you have a key to my place. I forgot to set the alarm and I forgot to lock the door. Those are the only things that make sense.”

“Your ex never had a key?” He asked flatly.

“Of course he did. We lived together.”

“So, it’s irrational to think that maybe he still has a copy of that key? It’s impossible that he doesn’t remember the security code?”

You bit your lip as he pointed it out, unable to respond right away. It wasn’t irrational at all. He could easily have kept a copy of the key. He could very well remember the code. Maybe you had been too trusting for the fact that you never had codes or locks changed after he moved out.

Now that you thought about it, he could also easily have kept your phone number and it would be a piece of cake for him to be able to find you at any given moment. You had lived with him, loved him, and everything between the two of you had been shared.

Of course it made sense when you put it all together and said it loud like this. But, you still felt that Rob was wrong. There was no real reason why your ex of all people would be doing any of this.

“Look, I know that you just want to blame someone, I do too. But, I told you that it’s not him. Just like it’s not Adam.”

“I’m just trying to make sense of all of this. The timeline of things… it kinda matches too, doesn’t it? You dump the guy and a few months later you start getting fucked up letters.”

“It was mutual,” you reminded him.

“Says you. Maybe he didn’t think so. Maybe he’s pissed that you split and then he went a little bonkers after he lost you.”

“Please stop,” you sighed. “I don’t want to argue about this again. You have no idea what our relationship was like and you have no idea what terms we ended it on. Trust me on this, please.”

“I still think it has to be someone you know,” he muttered as he looked away from you.

You decided to hold back in mentioning the thoughts you had had about Liam. you had talked yourself out of those suspicious rather quickly anyway, and there was no reason to give Rob more fuel to this fire.

Besides, you really couldn’t imagine that your stalker was anyone who knew you. It just didn’t seem logical. The fact that you were somewhat of a celebrity who had actual fans was the one thing that was logical. It made more sense that one of those fans had just taken their admiration of you too far.

“And I don’t think it’s anyone I know,” you replied.

“Well, I guess you’ll just file the police report, give them the evidence, and see if they can figure it out.”

“Right,” you said. “So, for now, can we just stop arguing about this? I really missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he smiled finally. “I’m also kinda excited to keep you around for good.”

“Was all of this just a ploy to convince me to stay with you?”

Again, your joke didn’t seem amuse him, so you stood up from your chair and moved in quickly for a kiss to avoid any more arguing. He kissed you back eagerly, not even attempting to point out the bad timing of your jokes. You giggled as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you down onto his lap, leading you into a pretty heated makeout session right there at the dining room table.

After a few minutes, when you finally came back for air, you stayed seated on his lap and took that time to just be close to him. Since the two of you had gotten together, you rarely got quiet moments like this together. It was nice to just be close to him, even if this closeness had some looming fear in the background.

“Hey, where’s your necklace?” He asked suddenly as he reached up to thumb at your neck where the necklace usually was.

“I- I must’ve forgotten to put it back on yesterday,” you replied quietly. You reached up to also touch the spot, now feeling almost incomplete when you remembered that the necklace wasn’t there. Technically, you hadn’t lied to him, but you really couldn’t bring yourself to tell him that you had lost it. Not yet anyway.

“I thought you always wore it.”

“I do, except for when I shower,” you explained. “Don’t want to ruin it. Honestly, I put it on my dresser yesterday and got sidetracked when I went out. It was kind of the last thing I was thinking about when I returned home to find out that someone had been in my house.”

“Oh, of course. I can’t even imagine how afraid you were.”

“I’ll get it when I feel a little more comfortable going back to my place,” you said, now feeling anxious over the fact that you weren’t even sure if it was there.

“It’s fine,” he smiled. “I’m really just so happy that you’re okay.”

 


	17. Part 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing is getting better. In fact, it just seems to be getting worse even after someone had found her house. The situation begins to wear on Reader, even more-so on her relationship with Rob.

Liam had gone far and above his duties; making sure that your locks and security system were changed as soon as possible. You had met him at your place a couple of days following the break-in, still anxious and a bit terrified to even be there.

He had walked you through everything, making sure that you understood how everything worked and emphasizing the fact that you needed to be certain you took any extra step necessary to protect yourself even in your own home. That was all well and good, and you felt a bit of security when you saw how all of the new stuff worked; but that didn’t stop you from feeling vulnerable. Not yet anyway.

Throughout the next few days, you chose to stay with Rob. it was comforting for you that he almost demanded that you stay for a while, even with your new security system at home. It was the one thing to come out of all of this that you would never complain about. You loved being with him. You loved seeing him every day and waking up next to him. It made you almost forget about everything, and he definitely made you feel safe.

While you were still on break from work, Rob never seemed to stop working though. He was always busy, and for now, he didn’t dare let you out of his sight. So, a lot of your time was spent trailing along and following him everywhere he went. It wasn’t your choice. You would much rather be at his place, sitting on the couch all day and taking full advantage of your break. But, no matter how much crap you gave him for being so protective, you honestly really didn’t want to have him out of your sight either.

For a while, Rob seemed to have forgotten about the necklace. He had been upset about you possibly losing it, and even though you had desperately searched for it again when you met Liam at your place, you came up empty handed again.

You were sick about it. Mostly because a part of you really thought that whoever had been in your house had taken it. At the same time, it didn’t really make a lot of sense that out of everything of monetary value that they could have stolen, that was the only thing missing.

You didn’t bring it up, and you had hoped that he wouldn’t either. But, it was only a matter of time before he noticed your bare neck again and wanted to know if you had found it.

The two of you were having dinner at his place one evening when he curiously asked about it again.

“Did you find your necklace yet?” He asked.

You reached up and touched your neck, still not used to not having it there even after a few days.

“Oh,” you muttered. “I didn’t.”

“Did you remember to look when you went back to your place?”

“I did look,” you answered honestly. “I looked everywhere. It wasn’t there.”

“So, you lost it?” He asked.

You could hear the disappointment in his voice and it killed you. The necklace had meant a lot to him, and it had meant a lot to you as well. The combination of it being missing and how hurt he was over it made you feel worse.

“It was there,” you replied. “I remember that I put it on my dresser before I got in the shower. I I don’t know how it isn’t there.”

“Are you sure you just don’t remember putting it back on? Maybe you lost it when you went out.”

You considered this, knowing that it couldn’t be. You distinctly remembered where you had put it and you had no explanation of where it could be now.

“I’m sorry, Rob,” you sighed. “I just- really don’t know what happened to it.”

You would have rather avoided it completely. You had been thinking about it for days, kicking yourself over having lost it in the first place. But, you had purposely not brought it up in hopes that he’d forget about it. Obviously, that wasn’t working in your favor, and now you just felt awful.

“That’s unfortunate,” he breathed out as he leaned back against the couch and a bit further away from you.

You felt hurt now. It hadn’t been your fault, but you did understand his disappointment.

“I’ll keep looking,” you said. “It has to be somewhere. I’m sure it’ll find me when I least expect it.”

“I hope so,” he said with a forced smile as he turned to look at you. “It meant a lot to me to be able to give you that.”

“I know,” you said softly. “And it really means so much to me. I’m honestly destroyed that I don’t know where it is.”

“You said that whoever was in your house went through your things,” he added. “Do you think they took it?”

You had considered that. In fact, you told the police officer that it was the only thing that was missing from your place. You neglected to actually put it in the police report though. It seemed stupid. Why would someone come into your house and take only that? You knew you had lost it. This was your fault.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would take it,” you responded. “Or even how anyone would have noticed it. Whoever it was just went through things in my closet and nightstand.”

“Yeah, I guess it doesn’t make much sense.”

“I’m sorry,” you reiterated, giving him your best puppy dog eyes in hopes that he would forgive you.

“I know,” he smiled. “It’s okay. Like you said, it’ll probably show up.”

***

At the end of your week, you said goodbye to Rob and headed back to set.

You were excited over the fact that, not only would you be away from L.A., now that even home didn’t feel as safe; but you were also set to work with Briana on an episode. You loved having any of the ladies around on set, and you couldn’t wait to just have a stress-free week of work with one of your best friends.

When you strolled onto set your first morning back, you were more chipper than usual. You greeted everyone and glanced around the space for Briana, who happened to spot you first.

She called out your name from the other side of the room, waving to you as she approached you.

“It’s good to see you,” you said as you gave her a big hug. “You have no idea how much I need you here this week.

“What the hell happened last week?” Briana asked, not even acknowledging your words or the fact that you were thrilled to see her.

Your smile faded when you saw the look of concern on her face.

“What do you mean? Nothing happened.”

“Yes. Something happened. Rob’s always a bit neurotic and protective of you, but this is the worst I’ve seen him. He called and asked me to make sure we’re looking out for you. I hate hearing him like this. He’s really worried. He also said that you’ve been staying with him since whoever this guy is crossed a serious line. Or course he didn’t give details, so you better.”

You let out an exasperated sigh, dropping your shoulders as you did so. You plopped down in your chair and tried to breathe as you felt that familiar anxiety start to take over. You hated that everyone worried. You hated that this was happening.

“It doesn’t matter. It happened, it’s over, and I’m fine.”

“Y/N,” she said softly as she sat next to you. “You don’t seem fine at all. Rob isn’t okay either. I didn’t see him, but I could tell by the way he spoke that nothing is fine.”

“Someone was in my house,” you answered finally. “I was out, but I came home and someone else had been there.”

“What the hell?” She breathed out.

You glanced up at her and noted the look of fear on her face. You really hated that everyone around you was so worried about you. You hated that this man had not only been making your life hell, but was also affecting your friends.

“It was him?” She asked.

“Yes. He left a rose and a note. Otherwise, I would have just convinced myself that it had been some random. I wanted it to have been just a run-of-the-mill break-in where someone just robbed me,” you chuckled uncomfortably.

“And you’ve gone to the police, right?”

“Yes. I called them and eventually filed a real report. They have all of the evidence I could give them. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know who is doing this.”

“Fuck,” she muttered. “This is bad.”

“It can only get better from here on out, right? I mean, the police are now involved.”

“Now I’m reconsidering the thing I wanted to tell you.”

“What thing,” you asked.

“How has your presence on social media been lately?”

“Nonexistent,” you chuckled. “It’s actually kinda nice. I’d recommend getting a stalker if you ever feel the need to just take a break from it.”

“That’s not funny,” she frowned.

“Gotta laugh about something,” you shrugged in return.

“The social media stuff has exploded recently,” she explained. “Honestly, I can’t keep up. But it seems like the fans have been busy reporting the posts and accounts.”

“What’s it all about now?”

“Weirdly, he seems calmer?” She said, knowing that none of this was calm no matter what he was saying. “I mean, I know we don’t know for sure that these accounts are one person, but I think can assume at this point.”

“Yeah. It’s gotta be the same guy. It makes sense.”

“He just- thinks he’s in love with you, Y/N. He seems to think you’re in love with him too.”

“I don’t even know who this is,” you replied in frustration.

“I know.”

“How can someone be this sick? Why me? Why am I the target of this?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered.

“How can someone think that I love them? I’m with Rob. I love Rob. I’m not even on a first name basis with any of my fans.”

“I know,” she said again. “I don’t want to upset you more, but I think this is stuff you should at least know about.”

“No, I know,” you shook your head. “Thank you for making sure I’m caught up with what’s going on. I don’t want to know this stuff, but I know I need to be aware.”

“Anyway,” she said as she leaned over to put her arm around you. “I’m here. The guys are here. Everyone knows what’s been going on. We’re just gonna do our best to make sure you’re safe.”

“Thanks,” you responded. “I’m sorry that anyone has to do that though.”

“That’s why we’re all friends,” she smiled. “We look out for each other. Take care of each other.”

“Well, I mean, I do have Liam,” you chuckled as you glanced around again, this time trying to see if you could spot him.

You found him easily; hanging out near catering and just watching you from a distance. You frowned at the fact that he never stopped watching you. It wasn’t that you didn’t like him; it was just that you disliked the fact that you needed him.

***

Later that night, you were taking a break in between scenes when Rob called. You smiled to yourself and quickly answered

“Perfect timing,” you cooed. “I’m on break.”

“Good,” he replied. “I was just calling to tell you that I love you.”

“I love you too,” you giggle in response, still blushing every time he said those words to you. “So very much.”

“Also, I’m heading to the airport.”

“Where are you off to now?” You asked.

You couldn’t recall him mentioning that he had work or a show any time soon, and there had been no discussion of him leaving the city until the next convention this coming weekend.

“I’m going to Vancouver,” he replied.

You could almost hear him smile. He seem rather giddy about the fact, even if you didn’t know why.

“Why are you coming to Vancouver?”

“To see you.”

“We literally just saw each other a couple of days ago,” you giggled. “You couldn’t wait until this weekend?”

“Nope,” he replied. “I’m not doing anything anyway. And I just- really kinda like you, so I can’t see the harm in spending time with you when I can.”

“I’ll be working like, twelve hour days.”

“Then I’ll get to see you the other twelve hours of the day.”

“You’re impossible,” you laughed.

“Do you not want me to come?” He asked seriously.

“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying, you don’t have to just because you’re worried. I do have security here.”

“I know,” he replied. “I just feel better when I’m close to you.”

“You know,” you said softly. “I feel better when you’re close to me too. I feel even better when you touch me or kiss me. I really can’t wait for you to get here.”

“You’re teasing me.”

“I would do no such thing,” you grinned.

“I’ll call you when I land,” he replied. “I know we just spent all that time together, but I really do miss you.”

***

You had been thrilled to see Rob when he got to Vancouver, even if you had to wait a few hours before you actually made it to your apartment as you were shooting a scene that night. When you arrived home, he was already there, greeting you with a deep kiss when you walked in through the door.

You couldn’t even tell him hi or ask him how his flight had been; he closed the door behind you, pushing you against the wall as his lips eagerly worked at yours. You had dropped your bag to the floor in his haste and moaned against his mouth as he pressed up against you.

Neither of you even spoke that night. You just let your want for each other take over. Maybe even a couple of days apart was too difficult at this point.

***

It was sort of nice to have Rob hanging around while you worked. He didn’t bother you while you were on set, but when you returned home each night, it was a relief to have him there. He would always have dinner and wine waiting for you, sometimes a hot bath drawn already, and the lovemaking was just a bonus. Normally, you were pretty lonely while you worked, so it was a nice change to have someone waiting for you at the end of each day.

Your joy over his presence had waned by the end of the week though. Something in him changed as the days went on.

Every time you spoke about the things going on, especially during phone conversations with Briana, who always made a point to call you when something new came up; he wasn’t his usual happy self.

You were lying in bed, scrolling through some things that Briana had pointed out to you. You hadn’t meant to be complaining about it out loud, but you were scared at the way this man was talking online.

“Can you believe that he has it in his mind that I’m in love with him or something?” You asked out loud as your eyes stayed focused on the tweets in front of you.

Rob didn’t respond really, just huffed out a reply as he changed into pajamas.

“It’s the things that he keeps saying about you that really piss me off though…”

You were working on reporting yet another account, not really paying attention to Rob as you spoke. You still didn’t get the point. Why create numerous accounts and tag you and Rob and your friends in this crap when he knew by now that he’d be reported?

“I’m not too worried about that,” Rob said softly, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“He’s insane,” you added. “He’s posting pictures of me and just saying the creepiest shit.”

“Will you stop reading that crap!”

You looked up at Rob as he shouted, surprised that he had raised his voice at all and that the irritation in his voice and annoyance in his stare was aimed at you.

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly as you set your phone down. “It’s- it’s just getting worse and I guess I got caught up in it…”

“Quit obsessing over it,” he replied, still seemingly angry.

He took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair in frustration as he closed his eyes; seemingly trying to calm himself.

“The more attention you give him, the less likely that he stops.”

“He’s saying such horrible things about us… about you.”

You couldn’t even stop yourself as you spoke. He obviously didn’t want this to be tonight’s topic of discussion, but you couldn’t help it. You were freaked out even more than usual, and even though he was right, you couldn’t stop yourself from reading these things at this point. Sure, reading these comments made you feel sick and terrified, mostly for Rob at this point. But, it was like a car crash. No matter how badly you knew you should look away, just ignore it, you couldn’t help but stare out of simple curiosity.

“Put the phone away, Y/N,” he demanded.

You looked up at him in surprise, still thrown off by the volume of his voice now. He looked angry as he sat himself in a chair near the bed. He plopped down, removing his glasses and placing them on the table as he sighed out loud, running his hands across his face as he kept his eyes closed. He was very frustrated and you could tell.

“Are you okay?” You asked as you did as you were told and placed your phone face down on the night stand.

“No.” He said harshly. “I’m not okay.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” You asked, a grin pulling up on your lips as you attempted to ease the tension and maybe flirt a little. Mostly, you wanted to just forget about this. You didn’t want him to be mad and you wanted to deflect from the moment.

He couldn’t resist you when you were flirty, and you figured that maybe all he needed was something from you to ease his tension. You were about to offer him a makeout session or even a quick blow job, but whatever he was feeling right now blinded him to even noticing that you were attempting to flirt.

“Yeah,” he replied as he looked at you finally. “You can stop reading the bullshit this guy is saying about you.”

“I know I shouldn’t…” you said. “But I can’t help it. It’s just- everywhere. How do you avoid it?”

“I don’t,” he chuckled.

His laugh was not the usual adorable Rob laugh that you loved so much; this was laced with sadness and anger, and you didn’t like it.

“I’m just as guilty as you are,” he continued. “Sometimes I can’t look away. I know everything that he’s saying about us. About you. I’m pissed. I’m pissed that he’s delusional and that he’s talking about our relationship as if he knows anything. I’m pissed that I can’t do anything to stop it.”

“It’s hard to stop something when we don’t know the source,” you explained.

“I know,” he nearly shouted. “But, maybe it would help if you didn’t egg it on so much.”

You pulled back at his words, caught completely off-guard by the fact that he was basically accusing you of leading this guy on. As if all of this was somehow your fault as well. It wasn’t like you were ever replying to the things you were reading. It wasn’t like you had known that the guy knew where you lived and had basically invited him into your house. The only time you had even had any type of communication with him was when you had gotten upset over the photo that was sent to you. Even that exchange had been short.

Now, you were angry. You were angry that Rob could dare to blame you to any extent. You were angry that this was happening at all.

“Are you saying this is my fault?” You asked.

“No, of course not,” he said softly, now choosing his words carefully. “Look, I’m just having a hard time dealing with this.”

There it was. The verbal confirmation that this was weighing on him even more than you had thought it was. It wasn’t fair to him. He had been so patient, so caring with you during everything; but even he could only handle so much of this. Knowing that he really hadn’t meant it, or least hadn’t meant for it to sound as if he were blaming you, it didn’t change the fact that you were now upset.

“You’re having a hard time?” You asked in surprise, wondering if he had completely forgotten what you had been going through.

“I just can’t stand to see you so paranoid all the time.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to inconvenience you.”

“Stop it, that’s not what I mean…”

“Let me talk to the guy,” you said sarcastically. “Maybe he’ll stop threatening me and breaking into my place if I just have a sit down with him.”

“Y/N…”

“Oh, nevermind, I can’t do that because I have no idea who my stalker even is!” You shouted as you stood up from the bed now. You could feel yourself getting heated, angrier than usual. “Forgive me if I’m ‘paranoid’ all the time. I’ll try to be less paranoid about the fact that someone is stalking me if it makes things easier for you.”

“Stop it…” he muttered.

“You know, this would probably be so much easier on everyone if I just dealt with it alone.”

“What?”

“You obviously can’t handle it. Our friends can’t handle it. I can barely handle it. I don’t blame you for not being able to, but maybe I just need to be alone.”

“What are you trying to say?”

His words were soft, quieter than they had been all night. It was as if he were asking the question, but hoping that you wouldn’t give him the answer. He seemed almost afraid of what that answer was.

“I need a break,” you said flatly, hating yourself for even saying it. The words themselves hurt and you didn’t want to say them at all. You didn’t want a break and you didn’t want to lose him, but your need to keep him safe outweighed your need to be with him at this point.

He stayed quiet for a moment, staring at you in disbelief. You remained calm and collected, knowing that this needed to be done at this point. You didn’t blame him for not being able to handle this, and maybe it would just be easier if you didn’t put him through it as well.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asked finally, words choked as they came out.

“Yes,” you replied hesitantly. “I thought that we were doing the right thing. I thought we were it for each other. We’re clearly not though. All we’ve done through this relationship is argue and worry about each other.”

“It’s just the situation, Y/N-”

“A situation that isn’t changing. I don’t want to go on like this. I don’t want to resent you and I certainly don’t want you to resent me any more than you already do.”

“Y/N-” he started, looking confused now.

“I’m just- done,” you sighed. “I never meant to drag you into this in the first place, and I refuse to keep you in this situation.”

“I-I didn’t mean what I said,” he stuttered. “I was just frustrated and I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

You saw the tears well up in his eyes and you looked away from him, knowing that you would break if you had to see him upset.

“Then let’s just stop taking our frustrations out on each other,” you responded. “I’m walking away before I ruin us completely.”

“We’re not ruined…”

He stood up and made a move toward you, but you took a step back, letting him know that he shouldn’t approach you. It felt like an awful thing to do, and you felt sick even having this conversation with him. But you were convinced that it needed to be done.

“Aren’t we? When was the last time we actually went out together? When was the last time we had a conversation that didn’t revolve around the fact that I have a stalker? We’ve been ruined, Rob. I’m tired of being in a relationship where I’m just a burden.”

“I don’t think of you like that,” he said desperately. “Please don’t think that I ever think of you as a burden.”

“I am though. And I’m not happy anymore, Rob. I know you’re not either.”

He glanced down, no longer arguing with what you knew was a fact. All of this had gotten in the way of your happiness together, and it had finally taken its toll on your relationship. You knew that the two of you could get through this eventually. You really truly loved him and you never doubted his love for you for a second. At this point though, maybe it was better to just walk away if only to release him from the situation. He of all people didn’t deserve any of this.

“It’s just the situation,” he reiterated as he looked back up at you.

Those blue eyes stared into your own, almost pleading with you as he realized what you were doing right now.

“I don’t know,” you said as you let out a forced laugh. “If we can’t even deal with this together, maybe we just weren’t meant to be together.”

“We are dealing with it together,” he said, his voice raising as he attempted another step toward you. “I’m trying.”

You stepped back again, stopping him in his tracks.

“You shouldn’t have to,” you replied. “You know, you were right… this is a lot for me to deal with, I shouldn’t expect you to have to deal with it as well. It would really just be better for everyone if I was just alone.”

“Y/N…” he breathed out, taking another step toward you.

He looked almost desperate, tears finally falling down his cheek as his eyes pleaded with you.

You wanted to take it all back. You really didn’t mean any of it. Just before you could though, you reminded yourself of all the horrible things this guy ad been saying about Rob, all of the vague threats, and mostly; the message that Rob had received during the last convention. The message that freaked him out enough to force you to stay with someone other than him at night. The message that he flat out refused to even tell you what it said.

You had come to terms with the fact that you were definitely probably not safe. But you couldn’t continue to have Rob be a part of something that could be unsafe for him as well.

This was best for everyone, even if your heart told you otherwise.


	18. Part 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is still reeling after the breakup and a convention weekend proves to just make the entire situation more unbearable. To make matters worse, the man who is following her seems to know more about her than even she expected. Unsure of who she can really trust, she’s realizing that she needs to be as alone as possible for now.

Just days after you had dumped Rob and you had wrapped up your work week on set, you were ready to head out to the next convention.

It had been a difficult few days, and you knew that the weekend was only going to be even more difficult.

You were heartbroken. Devastated even. You had fumbled your way through the rest of filming, completely off after what you had done. No one else knew about it, and that probably made things worse.

You had avoided Briana’s persistent questioning of your behavior, telling her that you were just tired. She had no clue that you had just left Rob and that you were busy hating yourself for it.

Word would get out. You knew that. Your group was tight-knit and everyone knew everything that was going on with each other. But, you chose to buy yourself some time by trying to pretend that everything was fine while you were working.

***

You sighed as you sat back further in your seat, completely oblivious to the noise and bustling crowd moving around you as you waited at your gate at the airport.

Liam sat close by and you stared at him, sort of hating that he was even necessary. You really did want to be alone, especially now, but your safety had been compromised the moment you understood that the person stalking you knew where you lived.

Your manager had insisted that Liam remain with you at all times. He was always there. On set and now here with you at the airport so that he could also be with you at the convention. You knew this would turn into him being around no matter where you went. The thought of it was stifling and gave you even more anxiety, mostly because you really didn’t know him yet he was meant to protect you.

You closed your eyes and thought about Rob again and that night. You wished you could just stop thinking about it; but you replayed that night over and over again in your mind regardless of how much you wanted to not think about it.

You couldn’t get the sound of his broken voice out of your head; the way he pleaded with you to not do this, the way he asked you to just stop and talk to him before you made a decision. You recalled the look on his face, eyes wet with tears, when you asked him to leave.

Mostly, you could still feel the pain in your chest that you felt when you did end it. You were only forcing back your own tears every day, surprised that you even had any left to spare.

_“Please, don’t do this. I know you don’t want to do this.”_

You constantly replayed those last words he said to you as you closed the door on him.

You hadn’t meant to be cruel about it. You never wanted to leave him in the first place. But, you stood by your decision, knowing that he really didn’t deserve to be caught up in your mess and that the entire situation was going to eventually put an even bigger strain on your relationship. You hadn’t done this because you stopped loving him. You did it to protect him.

You subconsciously reached up to touch your neck, searching for the necklace that was no longer there. Your heart ached again. It had meant so much to you and you had lost it. Perhaps this was just an indicator of how your relationship with him was never going to last.

The attendant at the gate announced boarding and you sniffled quietly as you wiped a tear from your eye. You had to at least try to be strong even if you were devastated. There was no way you’d let your stalker know that you were feeling weak, especially now that you really were alone.

“You okay, Miss Y/L/N?” Liam asked as he joined you.

He stared at you with concern and you laughed forcibly, shaking your head at him.

“I’m fine,” you lied.

“You’re upset,” he pointed out.

“Well, no offense, but I’m just- sort of hate that I still have to have you around.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, definitely looking offended by your words.

“I mean, that this is all still going on and that I need a bodyguard at all. I didn’t mean that I hate you. Just- the reason that you have to be here.”

“I understand,” he replied, features softening now that you had explained what you had meant. “These situations are always hard. But, I won’t let anything happen to you. At the same, I’ll try to give you space. I imagine it’s difficult having a stranger around all the time that you have to trust with your life.”

“See, now you’re making it sound as if I’m actually in danger,” you chuckled.

“Aren’t you though?”

The words that had been scrawled in all of those letters sent to your fan mail address suddenly popped up in your mind. At no point on social media or even with the letters that had been sent directly to you had you ever really thought that your life was threatened. But those letters had been different. You often tried not to think about them, but it was hard not to.

“I suppose I am. Thank you for being here, even if I’m kind of a jerk about it.”

“It comes with the job,” he smiled.”I get it. I’m just the bodyguard. We’re not friends, hell we hardly know each other, I don’t expect you to be thrilled to see me.”

“You know,” you began as you stood up and gathered your belongings, steeling yourself as you made your way to the line to board your flight with Liam following. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for us to be friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we have an 8 hour flight ahead of us… maybe we should get to know each other since we’ll be putting up with each other for unforeseeable future.”

“That might be nice,” he smiled.

You forced a smile in return. You didn’t know if you really wanted to get close to him. He was simply hired to protect you after all. But at this point, he really was the only person you had left. Especially when you had already made the decision to hold back on spending too much time with any of the people that you loved for their own good.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked again.

You broke from your thoughts, looking up at him. You were terrible at hiding your pain, that much was obvious.

“You know,” you began slowly, wondering if it was appropriate to spill things to this man that you probably shouldn’t get too friendly with. “I’m really not.”

“Well, if you need someone to talk to, I’m a good listener,” he replied, smiling at you.

“Thanks. But, I don’t want to drag you down with my drama.”

“I know that you have Rob, but when he’s unable to be around, you can talk to me if you like.”

Just the sound of his name stung. You looked at Liam again and you must have looked hurt based on his reaction to you. He frowned, looking legitimately concerned as he tilted his head at you and reiterated his original question.

“Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

“Um, maybe just to avoid future heartache… you can maybe not mention him,” you answered. “Things didn’t work out and I don’t want to go into details… but I suppose that, as the man who’s paid to watch over me, you should know that he and I are no longer together.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said softly.

He made a movement as if he were going to console you, reaching his arm up briefly before letting it drop back to his side when he realized that it would be crossing a line. Instead, he just watched you, not knowing what to say as you had just made everything awkward.

This wasn’t something to throw at your bodyguard. In fact, you knew you shouldn’t let yourself get friendly with him at all. He was paid help and as far as you understood, it should remain a professional relationship. But you were very alone. You didn’t have Rob anymore and you knew that your contact with your friends had to be limited if only to keep them all safe. You really just needed someone that you held no emotional ties with to vent to, and Liam was the perfect candidate.

“Don’t be sorry,” you replied. “I just figured you should know.”

The line began to move and you quieted yourself as you started to follow Liam. You couldn’t explain any more of this to him. Even if you decided the two of you should get to know each other a bit, he wasn’t someone that you trusted enough with the details. He wasn’t going to be your best friend. He was simply just the only person that you were willing to discuss this situation with now.

You would no longer drag Rob down with you and you would no longer have your friends be invested. It wasn’t fair to any of them. This was your problem. It just so happened that you were paying Liam to be involved in the problem. The least he could do was listen to you vent.

“You sure you wanna work this weekend?” He asked as he turned to you. “I didn’t know about that, and it might be difficult to have to work and be near him.”

Yes, this weekend was going to be rough and you weren’t sure how you and Rob were going to handle being around each other. After days of avoiding him and ignoring his calls, as much as it pained you, you weren’t sure if he would even acknowledge you after you had just broken his heart.

Even more, you knew you’d also have your friends to deal with once they knew about you leaving him. You wouldn’t say you were prepared at all for what was about to come, but you also knew that you had bigger things to worry about.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you responded. “The show must go on.”

***

Your flight had arrived late that night and Liam saw you safely to your room before retiring to his own just across the hall. You settled into your room alone that night. You had managed to get your own room booked just days ago, after your breakup with Rob, and you knew it was for the best.

After you had landed, your phone blew up with texts from your friends who were already in town. Even though you arrived pretty late, they were eager to have you join them for drinks, but you simply weren’t in the mood. You knew Rob would be there and you wanted to avoid him as much as possible this weekend.

Based on their messages, you assumed that they probably didn’t know about what had happened. You certainly hadn’t shouted it out to the world and you figured Rob hadn’t either. The wound was still fresh; and if you were hurting this much, you didn’t want to think about what Rob was feeling right now.

Already in PJ’s, you laid in bed and scrolled through your apps on your phone, knowing that you should just stop. You told yourself that you were just checking in on social media, but you never failed to do a search of yourself just to see if there was anything new out there about you.

It was the usual. You found an account that you had become quite familiar with. It was probably still up mostly because you had tired of reporting accounts and tweets; and your friends were probably tired of it as well. This particular one seemed to be sticking around.

You scrolled through, feeling sick at the various posts going on and on about how much they loved you, videos or you singing pulled from YouTube, photo ops obviously stolen from other fans with everything but your face cropped out of them… at least for now they were tame though. Whoever it was didn’t seem angry with you at the moment.

You ignored some text messages, mostly from Briana who was asking you to please text her back. But you weren’t ready to face your friends yet.

After a few more minutes of diving down a dark hole on this particular twitter account, you were interrupted by your phone ringing. You sighed when you saw Briana’s name pop up, but figured it would be best to at least answer so that she would stop texting you.

“Hey Bri,” you said, letting out a yawn as you realized just how exhausted you were.

“I take it that means you really aren’t joining us?” She chuckled when you finished.

“Nope. I’m ready for bed.”

“Okay, I can take a hint.”

“Thanks for thinking of me though. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait,” she said hurriedly, making you pause before you had a chance to end the call. “Can we talk about something real quick?”

“What’s up?”

“Rob said that the two of you are no longer together,” she stated.

She certainly didn’t waste time at getting to the point. You closed your eyes, steeling yourself for this. It was bound to happen, you just hadn’t thought that Rob would have said anything so soon.

“Well, he’s right.”

“Why?”

“Because it just wasn’t working,” you sighed.

“I don’t buy that for a second.”

“We just decided that we shouldn’t be together.”

“Why can’t you tell me the truth?”

“What do you want from me? Look, this has been hard enough, I don’t need you to press me for details on my relationship that ended.”

“You broke it off with him,” she said. “He told us.”

You held back the need to cry again. Of course the man had been hurt, and of course he’d turn to the people that he trusted. It just sucked that those people were also your people.

“I did. Please, don’t remind me of what an awful person I am.”

“He’s… really upset,” she went on. “He probably really shouldn’t be drinking tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” was all you could manage to say in response.

“He said you had a fight? An argument about this shit that’s been going on…”

“I really don’t want to do this right now,” you sighed. “It’s late and I’m hurting as well. Please- just make sure he gets back to his room okay.”

“Y/N…” she sighed.

You could tell she was frustrated with your lack of answers. But, you couldn’t bring yourself to talk about it yet. You knew it probably sounded awful coming from Rob’s lips, the way you had ended things; but you couldn’t take any of it back now. It was done and he was better off.

“Goodnight,” you replied. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

You ended the call before she could say anything else, heart aching again as you took in how all of this was affecting everything about your life. Rob was hurt, your friends were probably pissed at you, and you felt so sad on top of the anxiety and stress that had been consuming your life lately.

You set your phone aside and turned off the lamp, curling up under the covers. Sleep found you quickly that night.

***

You were pulled from your sleep by your phone ringing in the middle of the night. Groaning, you turned to your side and glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed. 3:34 am.

You frowned to yourself and reached for your phone, staring at the screen only to see that it was an unknown caller. The strange phone calls at all hours of the night had stopped for a while, so you were surprised to be getting this one right now.

Your thumb hovered over the ignore button for a moment, but out of sheer curiosity, it moved to the answer button.

You paused for a moment before putting the phone to your ear.

“Who is this?” You asked.

As expected, you were met by near silence. The only thing you could make out was the faint sound of someone breathing on the other end of the call.

“Who is this?!” You demanded, voice raising this time out of frustration.

Still, silence.

You choked back a sob, keeping the phone to your ear as if you expected whoever it was to actually respond.

After a moment, you ended the call as you let yourself cry. You quickly switched your phone to silent and laid there in bed, staring up at the ceiling as tears rolled down your cheek.

Almost as soon as you had ended the call, you got notification of being tagged in a tweet. You clicked on it, trying to focus through your tears. It was from the account that wouldn’t stop posting about you.

It was a simple tweet, yet still creepy. Just your twitter handle followed by words that made your skin crawl.

_‘It’s always so good to hear your voice.’_

Now, at least you knew. These calls weren’t just random, accidental calls. They were from someone who was purposely harassing you. They were coming from the man who was following you.

You shut your phone off this time, still crying. How would you ever figure out who this was? How had they remained anonymous for this long?

You reached over to what would usually be Rob’s side of the bed, fisting your hands in the sheets as you began to sob harder.

***

You didn’t sleep for the rest of the night after that phone call and tweet. You had tossed and turned, feeling more alone than ever before. You wished you had Rob to turn to. You wished that you had handled things differently. You had always felt so safe with him, and now you just felt more afraid.

Even as you headed to the green room with Liam close by, you were tense. You hadn’t slept enough and the second cup of coffee wasn’t helping. You kept glancing around you, trying to be aware of your surroundings. All of the joking you had done, pretending as if you weren’t that affected by any of this, had all but washed away. You had to take this seriously, and you were starting to.

The beginnings of you finally accepting that this was a real and scary thing that was happening to you had come about in your decision to break things off with Rob. Someone had been in your home. Someone kept harassing you online. Someone had your number and was certainly not afraid to use it. Yes, you being on your own would keep Rob and your friends safe even if you weren’t.

You sat alone once you arrived to the green room, not taking a moment to even say hi to anyone as you entered. They all knew about what you had done, and you were sure you were the most hated person here right now.

The band nor Rich were present and you were grateful that they were probably off rehearsing for the con that would start soon. At least you didn’t have to see Rob right away. You still weren’t sure how you were going to handle it.

You avoided eye contact with everyone else, turning on your phone finally and pretending to be immersed in something when you were really just deleting more phone calls that had been missed throughout the early morning hours that you had shut your phone off.

You turned to your texts then, pleased to see that at least this creep wasn’t trying to contact you that way. What you did find was a text from Rob that had been sent this morning.

 _‘Can we please just talk today?’_ Was all it said.

Your heart hurt just seeing his name. Even worse, seeing that he just wasn’t giving up on you. You had spent the last few days following the breakup ignoring him. You didn’t answer his calls or his texts. You told yourself it would be easier if you just avoided all contact with him.

It wasn’t easier though. You were still fighting with yourself over what you had done. Part of you wanted to just apologize, take him back, and hope that you could move on from it. Mostly though, you just didn’t want for him to be a part of this. He obviously couldn’t handle it anymore based on the way he had spoken to you that night and although he insisted that you could get through it and that he was there for you, you didn’t know how long that would last. It would just be worse if it ever got to a point where he really couldn’t deal with it anymore and decided to leave you instead.

You sighed and clicked out of the message, choosing to ignore him again. Now, you were just trying to come up with ideas on what to do if he actually approached you here and asked the same question. You knew deep down that he would. You knew he wouldn’t let it go. You just didn’t know how to tell him that you needed to be apart for his own safety.

“We should talk about this.”

You looked up to the sound of Kim’s angry voice as she shoved her phone damn near in your face. You pulled back to focus on the screen, trying to hide your irritation at the her demand.

“What is it?” You asked.

You saw what it was as you spoke the words. A tweet from that same stupid account that you couldn’t avoid.

_‘Y/T/H, I can’t believe he broke your heart. You’re too good for him. Maybe there’s hope for us yet. I would never hurt you.’_

The words were attached to terribly pixelated photo of you that appeared to have been taken at a Louden Swain show. You recognized the venue at least, and you weren’t sure where the picture even came from. All you could imagine right now was that he had been there and taken it himself. The thought made your skin crawl.

“What the hell?” You breathed out.

Kim pulled her phone away from you, looking at it as she scrolled through disapprovingly.

“There’s more like it,” she explained. “All from last night and this morning. The guy is going on about you being single and Rob being a dick for hurting you. I know it’s not true… and I don’t know how to get him to stop. Nothing anyone does makes him stop.”

“How does he know?” You said quietly, almost to yourself as you tried to figure out how anyone else knew about your breakup.

“Know what?” Kim asked.

“It’s not true…” you trailed off. “I mean, he didn’t break my heart. He didn’t do anything wrong. But, how does this guy know that we split? How does he already know that I’m single?”

“Y/N, what’s going on?”

“Rob and I are not together anymore,” you replied honestly.

“Excuse me?” She responded, this time shouting as she stared at you in shock.

“We split up a few days ago,” you said softly.

“What the hell?”

This time, she quieted her words, face falling in disappointment as she now looked concerned.

“I haven’t said anything to anyone,” you explained, trying to wrack your brain, thinking if maybe you had said something and not realized it. “I mean, I know he said something to Briana last night… maybe the others… but you guys wouldn’t go and tell everyone about it, would you?”

“I had no idea,” she replied. “I wasn’t with everyone last night.”

“I told Liam,” you said as you remembered your short conversation about it with him yesterday. “But, only because he’s my bodyguard and I thought he should know. He’s under NDA, so he wouldn’t…”

You were confused now. It didn’t make sense that Liam or even Briana would share this type of thing with anyone else. All you could think was that Rob had.

Kim, on the other hand, was less concerned about how this guy had apparently found out about your breakup. She seemed to be heartbroken over the thought of you and Rob of all people not being together anymore.

“Why did you breakup?” She asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Look, I really don’t want to talk about it,” you sighed. “It just didn’t work out, okay. I’m sorry. I know everyone was rooting for us and were relieved when we finally started dating… but sometimes things just don’t go the way you want them to.”

“But, it’s you… and Rob.”

“Relationships end sometimes, Kim. They just do.”

“Yeah, but not when two people are so perfect for each other and so in love. At least, they don’t end this suddenly.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“You don’t have to say anything. I just- I can’t believe it.”

Briana chose that moment to stroll into the room, just as you were considering walking away from this conversation.

It was bad enough that everyone knew about this now, especially the creep who was stalking you, you really didn’t want to have to keep talking about it. You had made your decision, no matter how difficult it had been, and you were set on sticking to it.

“Right?” Briana asked Kim, as if she had been there through the entire conversation. “No one can believe it. In fact, I’m still in shock.”

“Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I left him. He wasn’t happy about it… neither am I really. But, it just had to be this way.”

“You left him because of the shit that’s been going on,” Briana stated as she crossed her arms. “He told me.”

You rolled your eyes at her, looking away as you tried to play it off as if that weren’t the sole reason you had done this. It sounded to stupid for that to be the reason, but it was the only reason.

“Really, Y/N?” Kim asked, raising her voice at you.

“Look, we had a stupid fight and he told me that all of this was happening because I was egging it on. I know he didn’t mean it like that, but he was so frustrated and upset over this, I had to just walk away before things got worse. I can’t put him through this too.”

“Rob loves you. He’s always loved you. Just because he gets frustrated over things like this, doesn’t mean he loves you any less,” Kim added.

“I know that!” You shouted. “I love him too! So damn much. I love him enough to not want him to be involved in any of this, even if that means I’m not with him. You know that this creep has threatened him, right?”

“I- I knew,” she replied.

“I can’t- I can’t be okay with that,” you stuttered out. “This is about me, and if I can keep him out of it, then I will. Even if it hurts.”

“I get what you’re saying, but going through something like this alone…”

“I think that I have to be alone. If it keeps other people safe, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“The thing is…” Briana cut in. “The last thing you should be is alone right now. Being alone makes you vulnerable.”

“I’m not exactly alone,” you replied. “I have a bodyguard now. Apparently that’s a thing.”

“I’m not talking about the guy who’s paid to protect you, Y/N. I mean, friends and people who love you who can be your support.”

“And you guys have all done so much for me. I appreciate it, I really do. Thank you for everything… but I just want to be alone.”

“Are you cutting the rest of us off too?” Kim asked, concern present on her face.

“No. I’m just… no longer allowing any of you to be a part of this. It’s not fair. This guy knows everything about me. Literally everything and I can’t figure out how to just- keep him away. If he knows this much about me… where I live, where I work, when I go through a breakup… then he probably knows so much about the people that I love, and I just can’t do it.”

You were crying now, rushing your words as you tried to hold back the sobbing. It was overwhelming and too much all at once.

“What do you mean, he knows about the breakup?” Briana asked.

Kim decided to intervene, pulling up the tweets of her phone for Briana to see.

“Did you say something publicly?” You asked, knowing that she hadn’t. Regardless, you needed answers from somewhere and you sort of hoped that maybe she had slipped up.

“I would never,” she replied. “Rob only mentioned it last night. It was just me, Rich, and Ruth that he even talked to. Those two would never say anything either.”

“I know,” you sighed. “I know you wouldn’t. I just- don’t understand how he knows…”

“You said you told Liam,” Kim pointed out, raising an eyebrow at you as if to say that he was the only one who could have.

“I also said that he’s under NDA while he works for me. I don’t think he’d risk his job by airing my dirty laundry. Besides, we hardly know each other. Why would he say anything to anyone?”

“I suppose you’re right,” she replied. “I don’t know how this guy found out. Especially if it just happened a few days ago.”

“Do you think Rob might have said something?” You asked as you glanced between Briana and Kim. “Maybe he was drunk last night and he slipped up to a fan or something?”

“I don’t think so,” Briana answered. “Like I said, he was kinda a mess last night. We didn’t let him out of our sight.”

***

You walked away from that conversation feeling defeated. You had no answers. You never had answers when it came to this situation. The idea of your life being so out of your control was hard to deal with. You hated how things were now.

You knew deep down that Rob hadn’t said anything to anyone. Just like your friends hadn’t. You trusted them with your life. There was also Liam though. You were meant to trust him with your life. But, he had been the only person that you had actually told about this.

You shook the thought from your head almost as quickly as it had come. There was no way you would accuse someone of something like this when they were now an important part of your life. Not that you wanted Liam to be an important part of your life, but he was. No matter what, he was now the man in between you and any threat that came your way. Hell, he had been the first one there after the break in at your house. As far as you could tell, he took this job very seriously.

 _‘”I won’t let anything happen to you.’_ ”

You recalled his words from yesterday, the sincerity in his voice as he looked right at you as he said them. Perhaps you didn’t know him well, but you trusted him. You had to trust him.

***

Your day hadn’t gone well, so it was only obvious that it would just get worse.

You had avoided Rob pretty well most of the day; ducking out of the room anytime he entered, neglecting to respond to text messages pleading with you to talk to him, even avoiding eye contact on breaks.

You were just trying to make it easier for him to hate you. Maybe if he hated you, he wouldn’t keep trying to speak to you in an attempt to work this out.

But, you had known all along that you couldn’t avoid him forever; and there came a point at the end of the day when avoidance had to stop.

You were just about to step into the elevator, Liam following as usual, to head up to your room when you actually looked up and saw Rob trying to exit. He had changed his clothes from earlier in the day and you assumed this meant that he was meeting your friends to go out again.

You froze completely, unsure of what to do or even say to him at this point. You wanted to just push past him and ignore him, but his pained expression upon seeing you made you stop.

He stepped off the elevator and stood in front of you. You didn’t even make an attempt to move as he did so.

“Hey,” he said softly, eyes flicking up to meet yours, his body language completely different than how he usually was around you.

“Hey,” you responded, unsure of how to even act around him now.

This was not you. This was not at all the dynamic between the two of you, and it never had been. You already hated what this breakup had done to the two of you, but not as much as what your situation had been doing to the two of you.

There was an awkward silence for a moment as you both stood there just looking at each other.

You saw Rob glance over to Liam briefly before looking back at you. Liam’s presence seemed to irritate him in this moment, and you had to admit that it bothered you as well. Rob was definitely going to bring up the break up, and it was something very personal and difficult for you. You hated the idea of a near stranger being a part of it.

“We should really talk,” he said finally. “I feel like everything was just heated that night and I said things I shouldn’t have… and maybe you said things you didn’t mean…”

“Liam,” you began as you turned to the man. “Do you think you can give us a moment?”

He hesitated as he had the tendency to do when you asked him to step away from you. Sure, he was supposed to be close at all times, but this was not a conversation that you wanted someone else to be a part of.

He nodded after assessing the situation and stepped away to the other side of the hallway where he just waited for you. He was easily still able to hear you from that spot, but you figured it was better than having him breathing down your neck.

“Rob, I meant what I said. I need to just be alone.”

“There was no indication that there was a problem in our relationship,” he pointed out. “We were happy. You can’t leave me because of one argument- an argument that we didn’t even get the chance to work through…”

“I’m not mad at you for the argument. I’m not mad at you at all. I know you didn’t mean any of it.”

“Then please let me just fix this.”

“You know, there’s nothing to fix,” you sad. “It wasn’t broken. I just- had to walk away before it did break.”

“What does that even mean?” He asked in exasperation.

Again, he looked at Liam and then back at you, seemingly annoyed that Liam was even here to witness this.

“All this time that we’ve known each other… flirted and hung out and dated… we never fought. We never argued or got upset with each other. And this one time, it went there. That was hard. I never thought you and I would fight like that.”

“It was just a shitty situation,” he said.

“And it’s never going to stop being a shitty situation until this guy stops,” you said bluntly. “Who knows when or if that will ever happen. Either way, this situation caused us to fight. I don’t want it to continue to weigh on us and break us. I would rather not be with you if it means we can salvage what we always had.”

“I’m already broken, Y/N,” he said sadly.

His words hit you like a punch to the gut. The last thing you ever wanted to do was hurt him in any way. But your attempt at keeping him safe seemed to be ruining the man.

“We finally got there,” he added with a forced smile. “After all that time, I finally asked you out. I am in love with you and I know you love me… so, I don’t know what you’re doing,.. what you’re thinking…”

“I’m thinking that I just don’t want to drag the people that I care about into this mess anymore. I know you said you were there for me and you’ve been so good to me through this, but I can’t do this to you. I can’t do this to us.”

“We can get through it. Together.”

“Please. Stop,” you breathed out in frustration. “I just- I need to be alone. Please, leave me alone.”

You called for Liam who was by your side in a second, turning away from Rob as you waited for the elevator to arrive again.

This was hard. You felt like crying again as Rob stood there, defeated, as he had to watch you walk away from him yet again.

You ignored him even as you stepped onto the elevator with Liam, avoiding eye contact as you knew he was watching you. You had never wanted to hurt him. You loved him. Now, you were devastated all over again and wishing that you could just say ‘fuck it’ and run to him; let him hold you and kiss you again.

He had always been your safe place. And this was the first time in all the time that you had known him that even he didn’t feel safe anymore. Most importantly, you felt that he wasn’t safe.

You had to admit, his words sounded nice, and you wanted to desperately to take back everything; to pretend that you had never broken up with him to begin with and that the two of you could just go back to being that newly in love couple that you missed so much. But you had so much more to worry about; so much more to deal with.

You had a stalker who knew where you lived, and you strongly believed that if he could find you there, he most likely knew where Rob or even your friends lived. The guilt of having any of them possibly involved in this mans sick games was too much for you.

At this point, no matter how much you wanted Rob, you would act as if you didn’t. You also knew that you were going to basically cut yourself off from your friends as much as possible. Maybe if this guy saw that you weren’t close with anyone anymore, he’d at least leave them alone. Sure, you worried about your own safety, but you worried about the people you loved even more.

You only glanced up at him just as the elevator doors closed. You wished you hadn’t.

You wouldn’t be able to erase the look on his face from your mind for the rest of the night. It was just another night that you would spend tossing and turning, unable to find sleep.


	19. Part 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s bad enough that Reader is dealing with a devastating breakup on top of the fact that her stalker seems to be finding out more and more about her. She shouldn’t have to now be afraid of the one man who is meant to protect her.

By the end of Friday, you were wiped. These weekends always kept you busy, but you had intentionally kept yourself busier than usual. Mostly in an attempt to have an excuse to avoid Rob and the questions from your friends. So, when the day was over, the only thing on your mind was retreating to your room to be alone again.

“You’re not joining us tonight?” Rich asked as he watched you gather your things from the green room.

You had said goodnight to almost everyone, but he found it odd that you were turning in so early when Friday evenings were usually the nights you’d all have dinner and drinks together before karaoke.

“Not tonight,” you replied. “You guys go. Have fun, try not to be hungover tomorrow…”

“Kinda feels like we haven’t hung out with you in awhile.”

“I’m just- not really in the mood. I figure it’s best to just stay under the radar for now.”

“Rob said that creep is still being, well, a creep.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “I’m just trying to not be too obvious with my whereabouts I guess.”

“You know,” he began. “I heard about you and Rob, and I’m sorry about that. I’m not gonna pry or whatever because I’m sure you had your reasons for leaving; even if they’re stupid reasons. But, if you ever need somewhere to stay… or if you just need someone to be around, our home is always open to you.”

“I appreciate that, I really do, Rich. But, this guy found my house. He was in my house. I’m not about to put any of you in a position where he also knows where you live. I’m okay on my own. It’s for the best.”

“No one wants to be alone,” he smiled. “Especially not you. I gotta say, I really miss the social butterfly that you used to be.”

“Me too,” you replied. “Things are just- different now.”

“I think you’d be safe having dinner with all of us though. Plus, your bodyguard is literally always around.”

“Yeah, I suppose being with a crowd is pretty safe,” you agreed. “But, uh, maybe I should avoid the crowd for now, after…”

“Ah,” he replied, realization hitting him. “The whole Rob thing.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled. “I can’t imagine he’d want me around.”

“You’d be surprised,” Rich chuckled in return.

“Is he- is he okay?”

“Honestly? Not really. He’s pretty devastated. But, like I said, I’m not going to pry. Can’t help it that he talks about you to me though.”

“I feel really bad about everything,” you admitted. “But, it just had to happen.”

“If you say so.”

Rich gave you a crooked smile, letting you know that he didn’t believe you, but he wasn’t going to argue with you.

“If you’re sure you don’t want to join us, then I’ll see you tomorrow,” he continued, changing the subject slightly.

“Yeah, no. I’m good. Have fun.”

Rich nodded at you and turned to walk away. You watched him, bummed that you couldn’t even hang out with your friends because you were afraid for them. They didn’t seem to understand, but you knew what you were doing in the end.

“You’re staying in tonight?” Liam asked as he snuck up beside you.

The suddenness of his deep voice right next to you made you jump. You hated that movements like this startled you now.

“Uh, yeah,” you mumbled. “I guess so. Lucky you, you’re off the clock.”

“Room service again?”

“I don’t know… I’m kinda tired of being cooped up today. Maybe I’ll just hit up the restaurant here at the hotel.”

“Alone?” He asked, eyeing you as if to remind you that it was a bad idea.

“Well, I suppose not alone. You never give me a chance to do anything alone, do you?” You chuckled.

“Just doing my job,” he replied.

“I know. You wanna grab food with me? I mean, you don’t really have a choice anyway.”

“Sure,” he smiled. “I will accompany you to dinner. I would have followed you anyway.”

“Well, if you’re following me, you might as well have dinner with me.”

You surprised even yourself with your choice of wording. You didn’t mean to keep making jokes about having a stalker, but sometimes, you spoke before you could think. Liam frowned at you, unsure of how to respond.

You decided against even trying to recover from that. Instead you brushed it off, made sure you had all of your things, and headed out of the green room with Liam following.

***

You and Liam had an okay dinner together. Honestly, it was better to have him join you rather than feel awkward as he sat nearby, just keeping an eye out. Rich had been right about one thing, you really didn’t want to be alone. It was actually nice to have some company even though you were intent on staying away from your friends.

The two of you chatted through dinner and every now and then you would stop and wonder if this was appropriate. You were a friendly person by nature, but the whole situation had turned you into someone else. You had stopped being too trusting with fans, and Liam was really no different. He was essentially still a stranger. A stranger that you had to trust.

He talked a lot about his interests as you listened. Even on the flight here, he had been talkative. You on the other hand, had kept your half of the conversations pretty generic, still unsure of whether or not you really should get to know him too well or even if you should allow him to know you.

There could be a friendliness here, you decided. But, you had to keep yourself at a distance in a way.

After dinner, Liam escorted you to your room, as usual. He was still chatty as you stopped in front of your door and you had mostly zoned out, not really listening to him as you paused.

You fumbled with the key card, suddenly afraid to even open the door. You felt as if you had a brief flashback of returning home only to find that someone had been in your house. What if this guy could somehow manage to get into your hotel room too? The thought hadn’t crossed your mind before, but now you were working yourself up over the possibility. Everything was a possibility at this point.

“Is everything okay?” Liam asked as he stopped his rambling, noticing that you were ignoring him now and looking hesitant.

“Yeah,” you breathed out. “I just- it’s gotten difficult for me to face the fact that I’m alone lately. I mean, the guy found out where I lived. He always seems to know where I sleep when I’m at these conventions… I know no one is in there, but I still get scared, you know?”

Liam smiled at you and you didn’t really understand why. Your fears were legitimate and warranted, and you sort of hated that he seemed to think it was a joke.

“I can have a look if you’d like.”

“No, it’s okay. No one’s in there. I’m just being paranoid.”

He reached out for your hand, grasping onto your room key to take it from you. He let his hand linger on yours briefly and you pulled away first, sort of thrown off by the movement.

He unlocked the door for you and stepped inside first, and you hesitated before following him in.

He went straight to work, wandering the small room and checking in the closet, bathroom, and behind doors and furniture.

It took him just a couple of minutes before he gave you the clear.

“Everything seems to be in order,” he said.

“Thank you,” you replied. “I feel stupid that you even had to do that for me.”

“Don’t feel stupid,” he said with a smile as he stepped in front of you. “I get it.”

“It’s just- without Rob… I feel a little less safe, you know?”

“Hmm,” he hummed in response, his eyes watching you intently.

“Sometimes I wish I would just take it all back,” you went on, mostly just throwing words out there as you were growing uncomfortable by Liam’s constant stare. “I miss him. But, I keep telling myself it’s for the best.”

“It is,” he confirmed, still watching you.

“I’m sorry,” you laughed nervously. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear all of this. You’re probably tired of listening to me cry about things.”

“Y/N,” he said softly as he stepped even closer to you. “It’s okay. I understand that this has been hard for you, but you don’t always have to try to be strong.”

“I just- probably shouldn’t dump all of this on you,” you replied. “I’m being very unprofessional.”

“It’s fine,” he smiled again as he lifted a hand to your face.

You froze when he made contact, his hand gentle against your skin as his fingertips brushed against you, moving back so that he could run his hand through your hair as he moved his face closer to yours.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Before you could protest and remind him that he was only here to protect you, he moved in even closer. You backed yourself against the wall, not really sure how to react to what was happening right now.

You tried to stop him as his face came closer to yours, but before you could speak, he pressed his lips against your forcibly and you froze in place. You didn’t kiss him back. Mostly, your mind was in a panic. This wasn’t what you wanted and you didn’t understand why he would be doing this.

Once you collected yourself, you placed your hands firmly against his chest and pushed. He didn’t budge right away, so you put more effort into it, turning your face from his to break the kiss.

“What are you doing?” You asked, breathless and panicked as you tried to make sense of this.

“I was kissing you,” he chuckled.

He took a step back toward you, placing his hand against your waist to lead you back to him, but you squirmed out of his hold on you.

“You can’t do that. Please don’t do that.”

“Is that not what you wanted?” He asked, looking at you as if you had offended him.

“What did I do to make you think I wanted that?”

“Well, it was a culmination of a lot of things,” he said with a grin. “Honestly, I’ve noticed your interest in me for a long time now.”

“I’m not interested in you,” you corrected him. “And I don’t feel that I’ve done anything to lead you to that conclusion.”

“Come on,” he chuckled. “You dumped your boyfriend not too long after I showed up. And you made a big deal out of getting to know me better. You invited me into your room…”

“First of all, you had nothing to do with my choice to break up with Rob. Secondly, I thought I should just know more about the man who is paid to protect me. Also, the only reason you’re in here is to make sure I’m safe. That wasn’t an invitation for… this.”

“So now you’re just pretending that you haven’t been flirting with me?”

He looked taken aback, as if you had been the one to lead him into believing something that you had no intention of even hinting at.

“I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression,” you said sternly, now upset with yourself that you had done something to make him jump to this conclusion since you really didn’t think you had given him an indication that you were interested. “But, I’m not interested in you.”

“Really?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at you. “So all of this has just been… business as usual? You really didn’t ask me to dinner tonight? You didn’t vent about your ex boyfriend to me on the plane? How else am I supposed to read that?”

His expression was no longer playful and joking. Now, he simply came off as being sort of angry at your denial of him.

“You need to go,” you said softly, avoiding eye contact with him.

Yes, perhaps you had gotten too friendly, and maybe you had unintentionally came across as being flirty with him. But, you didn’t feel that you owed him an explanation. You had only meant to be nice to the man, maybe just because you felt so alone right now.

“We’re not gonna talk about this?” He asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” you replied. “You misread the situation, and maybe that’s my fault. But, you can’t just go around kissing people because you think they’re flirting with you. Especially not the woman that you work for. You crossed a line.”

“I crossed a line?” He asked, voice raising at you.

“You’re right. Maybe I did too,” you replied shakily. “But we’re drawing a new line here. I’m not interested. You need to leave.”

He smirked at you in response. And honest to god, unimpressed smirk that only made your you stomach turn. You felt awful about the possibility that you had led him on somehow, but now he was creeping you out.

He didn’t say anything else; he just backed off a bit, still staring at you coldly. When he had succeeded in scaring you; not that it was his intention, he turned from you and walked out the door, letting it close heavily behind him.

You stayed frozen, back against the wall as you tried to collect yourself. For just a moment, you had been afraid that that whole thing was going to get really out of control. You had never been afraid of Liam until now. The way he smirked at you, stared at you, and called you out on behavior that you didn’t even realize you were projecting scared you.

The pushover part of you thought you should just pretend that none of this had even happened. You wondered if maybe you had overreacted and if it was best to just ignore it and go on as if tonight hadn’t happened. At the same time, you knew that it would just remain awkward having him around after that. He had scared you, whether this whole thing had been your fault or not. The last thing you needed was another reason to be afraid.

You were a coward. You couldn’t fire Liam yourself. Yes he had made you extremely uncomfortable, but the idea of having to fire someone directly made you even more uncomfortable.

Now, you were also wondering where Liam had even come from. What kind of agency would keep a man who had no issue in making a move on a client? Maybe he had never done something like this before. Maybe you really had led him on and brought this out of him. You were humiliated even considering that this was your fault.

Although it was sort of late, you decided not to hesitate in handling the matter. Well, you decided to make sure someone else handled it for you right away.

You called your manager immediately after you had calmed down a bit, knowing that you had to get rid of Liam quickly. You couldn’t bear the thought of having him around even for one more day.

Luckily, it was still fairly early back home, so your manager answered right away. You wasted no time in questioning him about Liam first.

“Y/N, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” your manager said.

“How did you find Liam?” You asked. “Was he recommended? Did you find him through someone?”

“He applied for the position.”

“Really?”

“He had heard through his agency that we were looking for someone for you and he applied.”

“That’s interesting,” you said quietly.

You thought it was odd that your people hadn’t actively searched for security for you, but rather just interviewed someone who had applied.

“Is everything okay?”

“I just- assumed you hired him directly through an agency or he was recommended or something.”

“No, but he has an impressive resume. He was exactly what we were looking for. We did interview him, Y/N.”

“Right. I was just wondering.”

“Did he do something?” He asked, concern evident in his voice.

“No,” you lied. “I just- don’t feel comfortable with him anymore. I need someone new.”

It wasn’t a total lie. And you really had intended to mention the incided. But, your embarrassment over it was a bit stronger than your actual nervousness about the situation.

“Are you firing him, Y/N?”

“I’m actually having you fire him,” you replied.

“Okay,” he said in return. You could hear the confusion in his voice, but he at least didn’t argue. It was your life after all. “I can do that. Can I also know why?”

“It’s just- he and I don’t get along. It’s nothing other than the fact that I don’t think he takes this job seriously enough.”

“Okay, Y/N…”

“Just find me someone else, please.”

“That could take some time.”

“Fine. I just need Liam gone.”

“Should we wait until after the convention is over?”

You considered this. On one hand, you knew it was best to have someone looking out for you especially while you were working. Convention weekends seemed to be when most of the stuff was happening. On the other hand, you were embarrassed and deeply uncomfortable about the thought of Liam still being around you after what had happened.

“No,” you insisted finally. “Please just let him know his services are no longer needed starting immediately.”

“Y/N,” your manager began, sounding concerned over the thought. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to do this right now?”

“Maybe not, but I’ve decided and I want him gone immediately.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing happened!” You shouted. “Please, I just don’t think he’s a good match. We don’t get along.”

“Okay,” he responded. “Whatever you say. I’ll call him right away.”

“Thank you,” you said, letting out a sigh of relief.

At least you wouldn’t have to face him again. You felt guilty for having someone else get rid of him for you and for lying about the reason why, but it needed to be done.

“I have to say,” your manager continued. “I am a bit worried about the rest of the weekend. We had a bodyguard with you for a reason.”

“I understand that. I think it’ll be fine for a couple of days though.”

“Well, I suppose you do have the usual convention security,” he mused. “And everyone else looking out for you. Rob is very protective.”

Hearing his name caught you off guard and it still stung. But, it appeared that at least news of your split was not spreading as quickly as you thought it would.

“Oh yeah,” you chuckled. “He never lets me out of his sight.”

“Well then, I’ll talk to Liam and work on finding someone else for you. I’ll also talk to the convention organizers, see if we can’t just have regular security keep and extra eye on you. Until then, just let Rob know what’s going on. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Yes. I will be okay this weekend. Thank you for handling this for me.”

“Y/N,” he said quickly before you had the chance to say goodbye and hang up. “If something happened… if Liam did something to upset you… you know you need to tell me, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” you responded nervously, still not wanting to talk about what had happened. “If he had done something, I would tell you. But, he’s really just not a good match for me.”

“Okay,” he replied. “Have a good night, Y/N. I’ll get in touch again once things are sorted.”

***

You couldn’t sleep that night either. Now, it was just a culmination of everything all at once. Still, you had a stalker who was managing to remain anonymous while continuing to harass you in unexpected ways. And now you had this situation with Liam that you were beating yourself up over.

You were humiliated and felt somewhat violated by the fact that your own body guard had taken things to this point. If you couldn’t feel safe with someone who was literally paid to ensure your safety, were you ever really going to be safe at all?


	20. Part 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is embarrassed about the incident with Liam. Rob’s concern isn’t making anything any easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m still not in the writing mode really, but this has been sitting in my drafts like this for a long time and I figured I’d just post it as is. Hopefully it moves the story along a bit for you.

The following morning, you woke up feeling terrible. You hadn’t slept well, and even as you got ready for the day, you couldn’t shake the strange feeling that you had. It was almost a guilty feeling, as if you had been the one who had done something wrong last night.

You couldn’t stop thinking about the way Liam had kissed you. Your skin crawled as you recalled it, still creeped out by advancement and the way he had looked at you when you told him to stop.

Even as you headed off to the convention, you berated yourself over the fact that any of it had happened in the first place. You couldn’t help but to think that it had been your fault in some way. Had you led him on somehow? Had you not been clear enough on the fact that it was supposed to be a professional relationship and nothing more? Had you crossed a line?

To make matters worse, you also realized that you were about to face the rest of the weekend without a bodyguard. 

Conventions had become stressful and anxiety-inducing lately; and the only thing that kept you coming to them was knowing that you were at least protected in your work environment. Now, you were suddenly very vulnerable again as Liam was out of the picture and you didn’t even have Rob anymore. 

Although you and Rob were no longer dating, you felt the need to just tell him about what had happened. Not only did you feel guilty about the possibility of having done something to make Liam do what he did, you also couldn’t help but to feel awful that Rob knew nothing about it.

Before you could even think of a way to maybe mention it to Rob before anyone else found out, it was Adam who seemed to be a lot more alert than anyone else that morning. You had arrived at the greenroom, enjoying your first cup of coffee and just thinking when he approached you first.

“Where’s your bodyguard?” he asked, glancing around in concern as he didn’t see the man who never failed to be at your side constantly.

He sat down at the table next to you, waiting for an answer.

“He’s not here,” you responded simply.

“Why is that?”

“Well, he just didn’t work out I guess.”

It was a half truth, but now that it had been brought up, you felt like an idiot for the fact that anything had even happened. You suddenly questioned telling Rob at all.

“Okay, but why?” He pressed. “Did something happen?”

“Can I tell you something?” You asked seriously. “And can you promise not to think of me as a huge idiot for it?”

“You’re not an idiot,” he smiled in return. 

You took a deep breath and his features softened, watching you with slight concern now.

“He made a move on me,” you said, embarrassed to even be saying it out loud..

“He did?”

“Yes. I had to fire him. It caught me off guard and it was extremely inappropriate.”

“And… Rob?”

“What about Rob?” You asked in confusion.

“I’m just trying to make sense of it. Rob never leaves your side. He’s with you even more than Liam was.”

“Well, I suppose you’re out of the loop.”

“I must be.”

You took another deep breath before you broke the news to him. It never did get any easier to admit to it.

“Rob and I are no longer together.”

“Oh… Y/N,” he responded, sounding surprisingly sad about it.

“Why do you seem all sad?” You joked. “I know you don’t really care.”

“I do care. Look, I know I was interested… and yeah, it kinda sucked that he asked you out before I could… but he made you happy. I can’t imagine why you two didn’t work out.”

“We were working just fine,” you replied. “I really love him. But, I felt like all of this was just- weighing on us, you know? For me, that makes sense. But I really couldn’t live with myself knowing that it was affecting him as well. I know I’m not safe, but that doesn’t mean that anyone else should also not be safe because of me.”

“So, what happened?” Adam asked. “You said this asshole made a move on you, what did he do exactly?”

“It was nothing,” you said quietly. 

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“I mean, I can handle myself with a guy who gets too handsy. I just- I was more unsettled with the way he looked at me I guess. It creeped me out.”

“Jesus, Y/N,” he sighed in return.

“I’m overreacting again, aren’t I? Like, I probably shouldn’t have fired my bodyguard during a convention weekend especially with everything that’s going on.”

“I think, given your current situation, it’s not overreacting.”

“Do I really just give off a vibe that calls out to creeps?” You asked with a chuckle. 

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say, just creeps…”

You laughed lightly, glad that you at least had him to talk to.

“Thanks for listening,” you said. 

“Hey, I’m still your friend. I’m always here if you need me for anything.”

“You could talk to Rob about this for me,” you teased. “I’m debating if I should mention it or not, but something tells me he’ll notice something is up.”

“Well, I’m here for most things,” he laughed in return. “Really though, you should just tell him even if you’re not together. It would probably ease his mind when he realizes you’re without a bodyguard.”

“At what point do I stop worrying about what my ex boyfriend thinks?”

Adam huffed in return, giving you a look and you knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Maybe when you actually want him to be your ex boyfriend,” he replied. “We both know you didn’t really want any of this though.”

He wasn’t wrong. Your first thought after that incident had happened and after Liam had been fired was what Rob would think about it all. He was the first person to cross your mind and the first person you actually wanted to talk to about it. You had been the one who had complicated everything though. At this point, you didn’t even know if it was worth mentioning to him.

***

You had passed Rob throughout the morning, wanting to talk to him, but remembering that you had hurt him. You weren’t sure if there was a good time to tell him that you were without a bodyguard for the weekend, or if it even mattered to him in the first place. 

Gradually, most of your castmates had noticed Liam’s absence. Many of them approached you with concern, and you had to explain things to them. You made sure to leave out the part about him kissing you and being sort of aggressive about it. There were just some details that you didn’t feel comfortable with everyone knowing about.

Everyone’s concern over this situation was noticeable, but after an explanation on how it was being handled at least for the weekend seemed to be sufficient enough at least for now. Rich and Adam even reminded you that they were there this weekend as well to help out in any way they could.

Rob appeared to be the last to know, which made you feel all the more terrible about avoiding him today.

You wanted to tell him, but you also tried convinced yourself that he was too angry with you to care. Mostly though, you knew he was still hurt and the idea of talking to him about another guy making a move on you seemed sort of cruel when you had been the one to break up with him. It wasn’t that your breakup had been a horrible, messy split or anything; but you really did want to keep him at a distance especially now that things were starting to escalate again with your stalker. 

Rich had apparently talked to him on your behalf though, and while it would normally annoy you, it actually made the conversation between you and Rob come up a little easier. You were waiting to head to photo ops when Rob came through the door. He eyed you immediately and walked right toward you. The sight of him made your heart break all over again, but you knew you had to have this conversation. 

Rob stopped abruptly in front of you, looking around as if he expected to see something.

“Where’s Liam?” He asked as his focus landed on you once again.

“Oh,” you replied. “He’s not here.”

Rob pulled back, looking at you questioningly.

“I know he’s not here. Rich told me that you fired him. Why?”

If there was one person in the world that you could be honest with, it was Rob. Even now that you weren’t even together, you still felt comfortable telling him everything.

“I had to let him go.”

“In the middle of a convention weekend?” He nearly shouted. “Why?”

“Because… I just- had to.”

“Y/N, you can’t be without security,” he reminded you. “Shit always happens at conventions, and you just thought it would be smart to get rid of your bodyguard on day one?”

“I have security,” you pointed out as you gestured toward the extra help. “I actually have more security now than before.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he replied. “You need a real, legitimate bodyguard.”

“Well, I no longer have one this weekend. My manager is working on finding someone else though.”

“Why would you fire him right now? You couldn’t wait until you got back home?”

“He made a move on me, okay?” You replied softly, hoping that maybe he wouldn’t actually hear you.

He did hear you though, and he looked even more shocked by this. 

“He did what? Why?”

“I don’t know. He said that I gave him the impression that I was interested in him. He kissed me in my hotel room and it made me really uncomfortable. I asked him to leave and I fired him.”

“Why was he in your hotel room?” He asked, eyes narrowed as if he were trying to understand why he had been there in the first place.

You instantly felt sick, realizing that Rob was thinking something that you resented him for even considering.

“Really?” You asked sarcastically. You felt your eyes well up with tears, offended that he had even asked this. “I tell you that the guy made a move on me and you immediately ask what I did wrong?”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” he replied. “I just- did he hurt you?”

“No,” you answered. “He didn’t hurt me. Just- he just freaked me out a little is all.”

“I’m gonna be honest, I kinda need some clarification here…”

He looked almost hurt. You understood that it sounded bad when you said it out loud; this other man being in your hotel room and all. 

“It was nothing, Rob,” you sighed. “I get a little freaked out about being alone now. He walked me to my room as he always does and when I got scared about going in, he came in to just make sure no one was there, even though I knew no one was there. He misread that and some other things, thinking it meant I was interested in him or something.”

“And he just… what did he do?”

“He kissed me is all.”

“He kissed you?” Rob asked, now looking pissed off as he tried to clarify what you had just told him.

“I pushed him away, and he kept trying… until I told him to leave.“

“Why in the world would he think you were interested?”

“I don’t know. I asked him the same thing. He thinks that I like, dumped you for him.”

Rob stayed quiet, eyes carefully examining you as if to ask if that might be true. Your leaving him hadn’t made any sense to him anyway.

“That’s not the reason,” you explained. “You know that right?”

“I know,” he replied, shaking his head. “I know. I’m just- I’m pissed that he did that to you. Are you okay?”

There he was. This was the Rob that you knew and loved. He wasn’t blaming you for anything. He was simply trying to understand why this man had tried to take advantage of you. His concern wasn’t over the fact that someone else had stepped into your room, but rather if he had forced his way in. 

“I’m fine,” you assured him. “It was just a shitty situation and he had no reason to misinterpret it. I handled myself pretty well though. I even fired him right away.”

“I wish you would have told me about this right away.”

“Rob, why would I?”

“I know that you don’t want to be with me for whatever reason,” he began sadly. “But I care about you so damn much. This… this is really hard and the fact that this guy did this… I’m pissed. I guess I shouldn’t be because you’re not mine anymore, but I can’t help it. I should have been there…”

“Hey, please don’t ever think that this is because I don’t want to be with you. I just- I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what this guy is capable of, and I can’t be okay with allowing you and our friends to be mixed up in it anymore. Threats to me are one thing, but if he doesn’t have a reason to see you as a threat anymore, then I can keep you safe.” 

“Forgive me if I don’t think that that’s a reasonable excuse, Y/N.”

“I know it doesn’t make sense to anyone else, but it helps me feel better.”

“I miss you,” he said softly. “So damn much. I know we had that argument, and I’m sorry for that. But, I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Rob.”

“I will never understand then…”

You wanted to explain your reasoning to him. You wanted to make him understand. But, as if on cue, your handler interrupted, reminding you that you had to leave for photo ops.

You looked at Rob in frustration, now not even sure if you could make him understand. You had tried to reason with him already and he still didn’t get it.

“Can we just talk more about this later?” He asked. “Please?”

“There’s nothing else to talk about. I told you what happened. I promise Liam is being replaced soon.”

“That’s not what I mean, Y/N,” he replied.

Of course he wanted to discuss your break up. You knew that he wanted to reason with you, remind you that you had left him for a stupid reason and that you should probably just work it out like normal couples would. But, it was never about the little fight the two of you had. It had simply been about the realization that anyone who was close to you could also be in danger.

He knew that, but he wasn’t accepting that. Regardless, you didn’t want to discuss it further. You knew that you were weak for him and all it would take was spending time with him to make you cave. You couldn’t be with him right now. No matter how much you loved him, you refused to make him go through this with you.

“We’re done talking about this,” you said. “Excuse me. I have work to do.”

You moved past him to follow your handler out of the room, not even giving him a second glance even though you wanted to. It would never be easy to walk away from him, but you knew that you had to if it meant you were protecting him.


	21. Part 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is still feeling awful about breaking up with Rob. She’s also feeling crazy for suspecting an innocent fan of being the one who is following her. A gift that was left for her ends up not being from Rob, and things are only getting creepier.

You were sitting in the green room, taking a much needed break from the morning activities. Mainly, you were staring blankly at your phone as yet another restricted phone call popped up on your screen. This had been the fifth one this morning. Your thumb hovered over the ‘end call’ button, wanting to just ignore it, but also strangely curious as to who was calling.

“When are you going to change your phone number?” A voice asked suddenly, breaking you from your daze.

 

You glanced up to see Rich standing there watching you, his brows furrowed in worry.

You looked back down, noticing that the call had ended, so you quickly locked your phone and placed it face down on the couch.

“What do you mean?” you responded.

“You’re getting phone calls that you don’t want to get,” he pointed out. “Maybe it’s time for a new number.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve just noticed that you check your phone a lot. And you always decline most of the calls.”

“Telemarketers,” you chuckled.

“You sure?”

“Okay, look… I might be getting an increase it weird calls lately. It’s usually just someone breathing on the other end when I answer. So I just stop answering.”

“Accidental calls?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Change your number,” he insisted. “You’ll feel better about it.”

“Sounds like a hassle.”

“Okay, change your number, it’s safer that way.”

You didn’t have a chance to argue before he quickly walked away, heading out of the room and leaving you alone again with your thoughts.

He wasn’t wrong. Now that you had someone stalking you to the point of breaking into your own home, you weren’t safe most of the time. You knew that whoever this was had your number. You knew that the silence on the other end when you did answer didn’t mean that no one was there. He had said it himself on Twitter, he had heard your voice over the phone. You understood that now that he had your number, it was unlikely that he would stop calling.

***

Later that afternoon, you were seated at your table, working your way through an autograph line. You were mostly on autopilot by this point; smiling and engaging in small talk without really thinking too much about it.

It wasn’t until a familiar man stepped in front of you, placing a piece of artwork down in your field of vision. You glanced up at him and back to the drawing.

You were instantly uneasy with the way he stared at you. Looking down at the artwork, you also felt as if you had seen work similar to this. Now, you knew you had met him before.

“This is a great drawing,” you said quietly. “I feel like I've probably seen your work before.”

“You don't remember me,” he frowned in return.

“No, I do,” you replied. “I remember your work. I'm just- terrible with recognizing faces I guess.”

“You do meet a lot of people.”

“I do.”

“Every time that I meet you, I'm determined to make you remember me,” he laughed. “I'm just not sure what I have to do to make that happen.”

Your uneasiness started to grow. The man probably meant nothing by it, but the way he said it was unsettling.

“I do remember you,” you reiterated. “I told you that you were very talented the last time we met.”

“And to keep up the good work,” he smiled.

“Yes,” you said, forcing your own smile. “And I see that you have.”

“It has been a while,” he said. “I've seen you at some other events, but I tend to get nervous around you, so I don't approach you.”

“What other events?” You asked.

“Other conventions.”

“You come to a lot of conventions?”

“I do. I don't always get to see you like this though.”

“Ah. Is that it?”

“I saw you at a Louden Swain show once,” he admitted.

“Oh?”

“You were obviously there for… Rob…” he bit out, almost as if it were difficult to say his name. “So I didn't bother you.”

“Well, it’s nice to be able to go to his shows and not be the center of attention,” you chuckled.

“I wish I would’ve said hi at least.”

You realized he was just being friendly, even if it made you uncomfortable. He was obviously one of your bigger fans, and the last thing you ever wanted to do was make your fans feel like you didn’t appreciate them. Truthfully, it had taken time for you to get used to all of this, but you understood the fascination that they had. You had been a fan of things before. Surely you wouldn’t want to be treated as if you didn’t exist by someone that you admired.

You decided it was best to play polite. He, along with others in this long line, was there to see you. Fans were really the one thing that kept your career going.

“You should have. I promise I don’t bite. Not even out in public.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” he smiled.

You forced a smile, uneasy by the way he referred to there being a next time. Again, you were overreacting. So you tried to force yourself to chill out.

“You don't sing on Saturday nights anymore,” he pointed out.

“No. I don't. I think it was just a- fluke. It only worked out a couple of times.”

“I wish you'd consider singing again sometime. You're so good.”

“Really?”

“I have to admit, hearing you sing _#1 Crush_ was probably the highlight of any con I've ever been to.”

“Oh?”

“Your version it better than the original,” he smiled. “But maybe I'm just playing favorites.”

You thanked the man, ready for him to just move along, especially after he had mentioned that song. He had been standing there for some time, making you uncomfortable even if that wasn’t his intention.

He nodded politely at you and walked away. You took a moment to gather yourself as the next fan stepped in front of you.

You hated that this entire experience had done this to you. The knowledge that this creep was still out there not only made you feel unsafe and violated all the time, but it was also interfering with your interactions with regular fans and even with the people closest to you in your personal life.

You spent the remainder of your autograph session in a daze, not really paying too much attention to the people who were there to meet you and mostly now thinking about Rob.

***

Almost immediately after your autographs, you were kept busy by a full afternoon. You did your panel with some of the other ladies, forced yourself to get through photo ops, and were now finding yourself in a small room with a handful of fans for a meet and greet.

For the first time during all of this, you were kicking yourself over having argued with Rob back when he insisted that you make yourself less available to fans during conventions. Back then, you were intent on keeping your busy schedule and not letting fans down. Today, you wished you could disappear.

Still, you put on a smile and joined the group at a round table set up in the middle of the room.

You glanced around at the attendees, nodding and saying hi as they greeted you. You paused when you recognized the man from autographs. You didn’t know why, but his presence seemed to make you uncomfortable, but you knew you had to ignore the feeling and just go on with the meet and greet.

You introduced yourself and made a point of going around the table for everyone else to introduce themselves as well. It was something you always did at these things. You were terrible at recognizing people, so it was always an effort to try to remember familiars that you saw often. Not that you’d remember their names right away, but you at least wanted to look as if you cared.

This time though, you made a point of trying to remember this particular man’s name. You had seen him a few times, at least recognized his face and the fact that he always brought artwork for you to sign. The simple fact that he made you so uneasy was why you wanted to know who he was.

Given the current situation, your stalker could be anyone. You had been driving yourself crazy thinking about the possibility that you knew the person and that they seemed to be around you often without you even knowing. Since this man gave you eerie vibes anyway, you might have had a passing thought that it could perhaps be him.

You felt awful over the fact that you were even thinking about all of this. He was just a fan that you saw often. Everyone else had their ‘regular’ fans. Hell, many of your coworkers had fans that they knew by name and recognized easily because they saw them so often.

At this point, you were taking cues from your worried ex boyfriend. Maybe you shouldn’t suspect everyone, but perhaps it was safer to for now.

You engaged in casual conversation with the group, surprised that the man who seemed to stand out to you the most this weekend just asked basic, usual questions that any other fan would ask. Maybe you really were crazy because of all of this.

When your time ended, you tried not to make it obvious that you were over it and ready to get out of there. You smiled in the selfies with each of the meet and greet winners, thanked them, and made your way out of the room. At least Saturday was almost over and you could go back to your room for the rest of the night.

***

By the end of the day, you were exhausted. Mostly it was from being so on edge and anxious, but you were ready to call it a day and go back to the quiet of your hotel room.

You walked back to the green room with your handler close by, fishing your phone out of your pocket as you felt it vibrate. Another restricted call. You sighed and ignored it and put the phone away. At this point, you were ready to just throw the phone in the trash.

When you stepped into the room, you immediately went to start gathering your things when another handler got your attention.

“Hey, Y/N,” she called out to you. “This was left for you.”

You felt your blood run cold as she said it. You were tired of hearing those words.

She pointed to the table where you half expected to see another ridiculous flower arrangement, but this time, there was just a small box with a note attached to it.

Immediately, your stomach turned and you got angry. You understood that with the constant changes in the crew for each con weekend, and the fact that you were without a bodyguard, your demands might get lost in the mix. You had been clear about not wanting to see gifts of any sort, but apparently they would slip through occasionally.

Rather than reprimand her for something that she most likely hadn’t even been told about, you decided not to cause a scene. Mostly, you were sort of curious as to what the gift was. You had a pretty good idea of who it was from, but you had never received something like this before. Your stalker had stuck to flowers and notes, so you sort of really wanted to know what was in the box.

You thought that maybe you were overreacting as you hesitantly picked the package up. Considering the fact that your stalker never actually sent you packages, this probably wasn’t even from him.

It was most likely a gift from Rob. He had taken your breakup really hard and you assumed that he was just doing what he could to get you back. For just a brief moment, you smiled to yourself. Regardless of everything, you loved that man more than anything. It was cliche to say, but this breakup had been harder on you.

You carefully opened the card that was attached to the box, thinking that you would see an apology or something scrawled in Rob’s handwriting. Of course, you wouldn’t be that lucky though.

You were slightly surprised when you did read the message. First of all, it was definitely not Rob’s handwriting. Having realized that, once the contents of the note registered, you got upset. You had been so used to finding lyrics from _#1 Crush_ scrawled inside these notes, that you were honestly expecting it again right now. It would have been less threatening in a way if it had been lyrics from that song in this moment.

_‘Is it cool if I come over?’_

That was it. That was all the note said. You were baffled. You thought of Rob again. That was a line from one of his songs, the one song that he admitted that he had written about you long before the two of you were even close to being a couple.

Still, it wasn’t Rob’s handwriting, and by now, he understood that it was a mistake to send you gifts like this, especially if he was attempting to win you back somehow.

Now you had to know what this gift was. It was clear that it wasn’t from Rob. You understood that this was another gift from the man who was stalking you. Even if you were afraid, you were still curious.

You hesitantly unwrapped the box, taking your time since you really weren’t sure if you wanted to see what was inside. At this point, this guy could only get creepier.

As soon as you had it opened, it took a moment to let the contents of the box register in your head. It couldn’t be. How could this be happening? You covered your mouth with your hand, letting out an uncontrollable sob once you realized what it was. There it was; the necklace that Rob had given you that inexplicably disappeared from your home just weeks ago.


End file.
